Soft robots and biomedical implants that reconfigure themselves upon demand are closer to reality with a new way to print shape-shifting materials.
Rafael Verduzco and graduate student Morgan Barnes of Rice’s Brown School of Engineering developed a method to print objects that can be manipulated to take on alternate forms when exposed to changes in temperature, electric current or stress.
The researchers think of this as reactive 4D printing. Their work appears in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
They first reported their ability to make morphing structures in a mold in 2018. But using the same chemistry for 3D printing limited structures to shapes that sat in the same plane. That meant no bumps or other complex curvatures could be programmed as the alternate shape.
Overcoming that limitation to decouple the printing process from shaping is a significant step toward more useful materials, Verduzco said.
“These materials, once fabricated, will change shape autonomously,” Verduzco said. “We needed a method to control and define this shape change. Our simple idea was to use multiple reactions in sequence to print the material and then dictate how it would change shape. Rather than trying to do this all in one step, our approach gives more flexibility in controlling the initial and final shapes and also allows us to print complex structures.”
The lab’s challenge was to create a liquid crystal polymer “ink” that incorporates mutually exclusive sets of chemical links between molecules. One establishes the original printed shape, and the other can be set by physically manipulating the printed-and-dried material. Curing the alternate form under ultraviolet light locks in those links.
Once the two programmed forms are set, the material can then morph back and forth when, for instance, it’s heated or cooled.
The researchers had to find a polymer mix that could be printed in a catalyst bath and still hold its original programmed shape.
“There were a lot of parameters we had to optimize — from the solvents and catalyst used, to degree of swelling, and ink formula — to allow the ink to solidify rapidly enough to print while not inhibiting the desired final shape actuation,” Barnes said. One remaining limitation of the process is the ability to print unsupported structures, like columns. To do so would require a solution that gels just enough to support itself during printing, she said. Gaining that ability will allow researchers to print far more complex combinations of shapes.
“Future work will further optimize the printing formula and use scaffold-assisted printing techniques to create actuators that transition between two different complex shapes,” Barnes said. “This opens the door to printing soft robotics that could swim like a jellyfish, jump like a cricket or transport liquids like the heart.” – (Rice University Research

Germany will provide Technical Assistance worth Euro 4 million for the project “Promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Concepts in Cities and Industries” in Pakistan.
Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Noor Ahmed and the Ambassador of Germany to Pakistan Bernhard Schlagheck, signed an agreement for technical assistance under the Pakistan-Germany Development Program worth Euro 4 Million, equivalent to Rs 0.7 Billion, said a statement issued by Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The technical assistance will be provided for the project “Promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Concepts in Cities and Industries” which are well aligned with the priority areas of the Government of Pakistan. Development Cooperation between Pakistan and Germany dates back to 1961, with the funding volume to date totaling more than Euro three billion. The contracting parties underlined the good relations between Germany and Pakistan and looked forward to strengthening their cooperation.
Both sides highlighted the importance of actively collaborating in the finalization of project objectives to ensure that the concerns of the end beneficiaries are addressed. Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Noor Ahmed, thanked the German Government for the grant assistance in priority areas of the Government of Pakistan. He opined that technical assistance from Germany should be used for the maximum benefit of the people of Pakistan thus, all measures should be taken to make cost-effective expenditure with greater reliance on using local resources

The federal government has authorized the release of Rs 584.9 billion for various ongoing and new social sector uplift projects under its Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) 2019-20.
The total allocation of the program is set at Rs701 billion.
Under its development program, the government has released an amount of Rs 245.8 billion for federal ministries, Rs 194.18 billion for corporations and Rs 43.56 billion for special areas, according to the latest data released by Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reform.
Out of these allocations, the government released Rs 49.73 billion for security enhancement in the country for which the government had allocated Rs53 billion during the year 2019-20. An amount of Rs 97.64 billion has also been released for the blocks managed by finance division under the government’s 10 years development program (PSDP).
Similarly, for Higher Education Commission, the government released an amount of Rs 28.28 billion out of its total allocation of Rs 29 billion while Rs 270.47 million were released for Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority for which the government had allocated Rs 270.47 million in the development budget.
For National Highway Authority, the government released Rs173.53 billion against its allocations of Rs 173.53 billion.
Under the annual development agenda, the government also released Rs 10.02 billion for Railways Division out of the total allocation of Rs12.56 billion, Rs8.39 billion for Interior Division, and Rs 7.6 billion for National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination Division.
Revenue Division received Rs 5.84 billion, whereas the Cabinet Division also received Rs 35.16 billion for which an amount of Rs 35.97 billion has been allocated for the year 2019-20. The government also released Rs 27.21 billion for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) block and other projects out of its allocations of Rs 27.26 billion and Rs 16.34 billion for Gilgit Baltistan (Block and other projects)

Islamabad is having meetings with representatives of business and farming communities to pull them out of current economic situation.
Dr Hafeez Shaikh, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue has assured them full support ensuring growers for a targeted disbursement of the Rs 50 billion agriculture package recently announced by the government for the farmers and crop growers.
The government has approved this package with a view to extending relief to the farmers community and its direct disbursement to the farmers and crop growers remains a key objective of the government, he said while chairing a meeting with a delegation of the Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) that met the Adviser and members of the government’s economic team in Islamabad.
Dr Shaikh welcomed various proposals and recommendations put forward by the delegation regarding extending direct relief to the farmers, including possible reduction of electricity tariff for tube-wells, reduction of import duty on fertilizers, reduction of mark-up and waiver of agricultural loans, deregulation of the import and export of agriculture products and livestock.
He said the government was open to considering any suggestion to further improve the disbursement criterion of the agriculture package of Rs 50 billion in view of the input and consultation of the stakeholders. Similarly, the government was also willing to extend further relief to the farmers as and when required and proposed by the Ministry of National Food Security & Research for the growth of agriculture and betterment of farmers.
The Adviser conceded that the agriculture sector had the potential in a post-COVID scenario to generate employment, boost growth, alleviate poverty and enhance food security. He asked the leadership of FAP and the concerned ministries to sit together in the coming days to further fine-tune and improve the disbursement mechanism of the agriculture package and put bring up any other suggestions or recommendations to further support the farming community and boost the agriculture sector. Meanwhile, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has also chaired a meeting here at the Finance Division with Siraj Kassaim Teli, chairman Businessmen community and representatives of Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry to discuss budget proposals from business community of Karachi.
The group requested the Adviser to look into the possibility of reducing the taxes and speeding up of income tax refunds for the businessmen. They asked the Adviser to take concrete measures to facilitate the business community for facilitating their business activities. The Adviser assured the representatives that the government is giving proper consideration to their proposals in the upcoming budget and will continue to cooperate with the business community to boost the businesses and generate employment and economic development in the country