Harvard researchers create 'intelligent liquid' that has ushered in a 'new class of fluid': Study

Researchers at Harvard have reportedly developed a metafluid that they have referred to as "intelligent liquid," according to the Debrief. The liquid contains "tunable springiness, adjustable optical properties, variable viscosity, and even the seemingly magical ability to shift between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid."

The formula that the team came up with remains a secret as they continue to investigate the commercial potential of the substance. The report mentioned that the liquid might be used in "programmable robots" and "intelligent shock absorbers," and even "optical devices that can shift between transparent and opaque states."

Adel Djellouli — a Research Associate in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences — said: “We are just scratching the surface of what is possible with this new class of fluid."

“With this one platform, you could do so many different things in so many different fields.”

Harvard's engineering department reported that the substance is the first of its kind, noting that it uses "a suspension of small, elastomer spheres — between 50 to 500 microns — that buckle under pressure, radically changing the characteristics of the fluid."

Reports mentioned that metamaterials — which could be defined as artificially engineered materials whose properties are dictated by their structure rather than composition — have already been used in a wide range of applications over the past few years.

However, most of the materials that have been made so far have been solid, such as metalenses, which was spearheaded in the lab of Federico Capasso, Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at SEAS.

“Unlike solid metamaterials, metafluids have the unique ability to flow and adapt to the shape of their container,” Katia Bertoldi, William and Ami Kuan Danoff Professor of Applied Mechanics at SEAS and senior author of the paper, said.

“Our goal was to create a metafluid that not only possesses these remarkable attributes but also provides a platform for programmable viscosity, compressibility and optical properties.”

The Debrief reported that researchers are still trying to find out more about the new intelligent liquid's "acoustical and thermodynamic properties to discover its other secrets."

Until new revelations unfold, the researchers said that the material could still be used in commercial and industrial settings.

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