Yue and colleagues coupled suction cups with soft fluidic circuits and actuators to mimic the octopus's hierarchical control in soft robots.
As reported in: Yue, Lu, Tang et al. (2025). Embodying soft robots with octopus-inspired hierarchical suction intelligence. Science Robotics. doi:10.1126/scirobotics.adr4264
A review of bacterial-cellulose composites used in wearable electronics.
As reported in: Guan, Guo (2022). Flexible, high-strength, and porous nano-nano composites based on bacterial cellulose for wearable electronics: a review. Soft Science. doi:10.20517/ss.2021.19
Bombelli and colleagues used a photosynthesis-driven biophotovoltaic cell with an aluminium anode to power a microprocessor stably for over six months.
As reported in: Bombelli, Savanth, Scarampi et al. (2022). Powering a microprocessor by photosynthesis. Energy & Environmental Science. doi:10.1039/D2EE00233G
Grown fungal skin was explored as a flexible, biodegradable base layer for electronic circuits ("MycelioTronics").
Built / tested: flexible circuit substrates, demonstration electronics
As reported in: Danninger, Pruckner, Holzinger et al. (2022). MycelioTronics: Fungal mycelium skin for sustainable electronics. Science Advances. doi:10.1126/sciadv.add7118
A carbon-loaded shellac ink for disposable printed electronics.
Publisher update notice: correction
Built / tested: printed circuits
As reported in: Poulin, Aeby, Siqueira et al. (2021). Versatile carbon-loaded shellac ink for disposable printed electronics. Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-03075-4
A review of silk fibroin used in flexible and wearable electronic devices.
As reported in: Wen, Sun, Huang et al. (2021). Recent progress in silk fibroin-based flexible electronics. Microsystems & Nanoengineering. doi:10.1038/s41378-021-00261-2
Ultra-light MXene aerogel/wood-derived porous carbon composites for electromagnetic interference shielding.
Built / tested: EMI shields
As reported in: Liang, Qiu, Song et al. (2020). Ultra-light MXene aerogel/wood-derived porous carbon composites with wall-like “mortar/brick” structures for electromagnetic interference shielding. Science Bulletin. doi:10.1016/j.scib.2020.02.009
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In a white paper, Musk and Neuralink described flexible electrode threads with up to 3,072 electrodes per array, a robot that inserts six threads per minute, and up to 70% spiking yield in chronically implanted electrodes.
Built / tested: Neuralink
As reported in: Musk, (2019). An Integrated Brain-Machine Interface Platform With Thousands of Channels. Journal of Medical Internet Research. doi:10.2196/16194
Wearable strain sensors using tough, adhesive, anti-freezing casein-driven hydrogels to monitor motion.
Built / tested: strain sensors
As reported in: Guan, Yan, Liu et al. (2019). Wearable strain sensors based on casein-driven tough, adhesive and anti-freezing hydrogels for monitoring human-motion. Journal of Materials Chemistry B. doi:10.1039/c9tb01340g
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Glick and colleagues combined fluidic elastomer actuators with gecko-inspired adhesives, improving grasps of large objects without losing performance on rough or dirty surfaces.
As reported in: Glick, Suresh, Ruffatto et al. (2018). A Soft Robotic Gripper With Gecko-Inspired Adhesive. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. doi:10.1109/lra.2018.2792688
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Eliakim and colleagues built "Robat," an autonomous ground robot with one emitter and two ears that maps and classifies objects using only echoes.
As reported in: Eliakim, Cohen, Kosa et al. (2018). A fully autonomous terrestrial bat-like acoustic robot. PLOS Computational Biology. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006406
A nacre-inspired MXene/cellulose nanofibre composite paper that is strong, tough and shields electromagnetic interference.
Built / tested: EMI shielding paper
As reported in: Cao, Chen, Zhu et al. (2018). Binary Strengthening and Toughening of MXene/Cellulose Nanofiber Composite Paper with Nacre-Inspired Structure and Superior Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Properties. ACS Nano. doi:10.1021/acsnano.8b00997
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Wang and colleagues built a remora-inspired disc with up to 340 times its own weight in pull-off force and an underwater robot that hitchhikes on surfaces.
As reported in: Wang, Yang, Chen et al. (2017). A biorobotic adhesive disc for underwater hitchhiking inspired by the remora suckerfish. Science Robotics. doi:10.1126/scirobotics.aan8072
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Erlich and Zielinski developed a coding method that stores data in DNA near its theoretical capacity.
As reported in: Erlich, Zielinski (2017). DNA Fountain enables a robust and efficient storage architecture. Science. doi:10.1126/science.aaj2038
Dickey reviewed stretchable and soft electronics built using liquid metals.
Built / tested: stretchable electronics
As reported in: Dickey (2017). Stretchable and Soft Electronics using Liquid Metals. Advanced Materials. doi:10.1002/adma.201606425
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Seo and colleagues recorded nerve signals in rats with tiny wireless sensors powered by ultrasound.
Built / tested: neural dust
As reported in: Seo, Neely, Shen et al. (2016). Wireless Recording in the Peripheral Nervous System with Ultrasonic Neural Dust. Neuron. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2016.06.034
A review of wood-derived materials for green electronics, biological devices and energy.
As reported in: Zhu, Luo, Ciesielski et al. (2016). Wood-Derived Materials for Green Electronics, Biological Devices, and Energy Applications. Chemical Reviews. doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.6b00225
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Tee and colleagues made a skin-like sensor that sends pressure signals as nerve-like pulses.
As reported in: Tee, Chortos, Berndt et al. (2015). A skin-inspired organic digital mechanoreceptor. Science. doi:10.1126/science.aaa9306
Yu and colleagues built flexible optoelectronic sheets that sense light and change pattern like cephalopod skin.
Built / tested: adaptive camouflage sheet
As reported in: Yu, Li, Zhang et al. (2014). Adaptive optoelectronic camouflage systems with designs inspired by cephalopod skins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.1410494111
Bright light-emitting diodes based on organometal halide perovskite.
Built / tested: LEDs
As reported in: Tan, Moghaddam, Lai et al. (2014). Bright light-emitting diodes based on organometal halide perovskite. Nature Nanotechnology. doi:10.1038/nnano.2014.149
Goldman and colleagues stored and read back files including text, images, and audio in DNA.
As reported in: Goldman, Bertone, Chen et al. (2013). Towards practical, high-capacity, low-maintenance information storage in synthesized DNA. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature11875
Hammock and colleagues reviewed the history and design of electronic skin.
As reported in: Hammock, Chortos, Tee et al. (2013). 25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E‐Skin): A Brief History, Design Considerations, and Recent Progress. Advanced Materials. doi:10.1002/adma.201302240
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Church, Gao, and Kosuri encoded a book in DNA as digital storage.
Built / tested: DNA data storage
As reported in: Church, Gao, Kosuri (2012). Next-Generation Digital Information Storage in DNA. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1226355
Combined bacterial cellulose with a conductive polymer to make a flexible conducting membrane.
Built / tested: conductive membranes
As reported in: Hu, Chen, Yang et al. (2011). Flexible Electrically Conductive Nanocomposite Membrane Based on Bacterial Cellulose and Polyaniline. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. doi:10.1021/jp204422v
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Malvankar and colleagues measured metal-like conductivity in Geobacter nanowire networks.
As reported in: Malvankar, Vargas, Nevin et al. (2011). Tunable metallic-like conductivity in microbial nanowire networks. Nature Nanotechnology. doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.119
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Kim and colleagues made skin-like electronics that stick to the skin like a temporary tattoo.
Built / tested: electronic tattoo
As reported in: Kim, Lu, Ma et al. (2011). Epidermal Electronics. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1206157
Mannsfeld and colleagues made flexible sensors with microstructured rubber that detect very light touch.
As reported in: Mannsfeld, Tee, Stoltenberg et al. (2010). Highly sensitive flexible pressure sensors with microstructured rubber dielectric layers. Nature Materials. doi:10.1038/nmat2834
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Kim and colleagues built ultrathin electronics on silk films that dissolve and wrap onto brain tissue.
Built / tested: silk-supported electrode array
As reported in: Kim, Viventi, Amsden et al. (2010). Dissolvable films of silk fibroin for ultrathin conformal bio-integrated electronics. Nature Materials. doi:10.1038/nmat2745
Used thin silk films as a dissolvable backing that lets very thin electronics conform to soft, curved surfaces.
Built / tested: conformal electrode arrays
As reported in: Kim, Viventi, Amsden et al. (2010). Dissolvable films of silk fibroin for ultrathin conformal bio-integrated electronics. Nature Materials. doi:10.1038/nmat2745
Dickey and colleagues showed eutectic gallium-indium forms a thin skin that lets the liquid hold shapes in tiny channels.
Built / tested: stretchable wires
As reported in: Dickey, Chiechi, Larsen et al. (2008). Eutectic Gallium‐Indium (EGaIn): A Liquid Metal Alloy for the Formation of Stable Structures in Microchannels at Room Temperature. Advanced Functional Materials. doi:10.1002/adfm.200701216
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Müller and Kuc reviewed engineering inspired by bat biosonar, relevant to sonar, biomedical ultrasound, non-destructive testing and autonomous sensors.
As reported in: Müller, Kuc (2007). Biosonar-inspired technology: goals, challenges and insights. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. doi:10.1088/1748-3182/2/4/s04
Beeby, Tudor and White reviewed vibration energy harvesters, mostly spring–mass resonators using piezoelectric, electromagnetic or electrostatic conversion.
As reported in: Beeby, Tudor, White (2006). Energy harvesting vibration sources for microsystems applications. Measurement Science and Technology. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/17/12/R01
Someya and colleagues built a large flexible pressure-sensing sheet from organic transistors as artificial skin.
Built / tested: robot e-skin
As reported in: Someya, Sekitani, Iba et al. (2004). A large-area, flexible pressure sensor matrix with organic field-effect transistors for artificial skin applications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401918101
Roundy, Wright and Rabaey studied low-level vibrations as a power source for wireless sensor nodes.
As reported in: Roundy, Wright, Rabaey (2003). A study of low level vibrations as a power source for wireless sensor nodes. Computer Communications. doi:10.1016/S0140-3664(02)00248-7
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Nakamura and colleagues made candela-class InGaN/AlGaN blue LEDs, the brightest blue LEDs reported, with 2.7% external quantum efficiency.
As reported in: Nakamura, Mukai, Senoh (1994). Candela-class high-brightness InGaN/AlGaN double-heterostructure blue-light-emitting diodes. Applied Physics Letters. doi:10.1063/1.111832
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