Thermoresponsiveness of integrated ultra-thin silicon with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels.

Stimuli-sensitive polymer materials have limited device functionality, design and manufacturing flexibility although they are pushed to enable smart device applications. Here we demonstrate the capability of integrating thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogels with silicon nanoribbons, and enable the stiff silicon ribbons to become adaptive and drivable by the soft environmentally sensitive substrate, such as becoming mechanically stretched and compressed on temperature change. These and related soft/hard smart devices and systems may open new opportunities in biomedical applications.