Cheng Zhang¹ Jheng-Wun Su¹ Heng Deng¹ Yunchao Xie¹ Zheng Yan¹ Jian Lin¹

1, The University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States

Assembly of 3D architectures with programmable shape configurations has important applications in broad areas. However, previously assembled 3D architectures are either not reversible or free-standing, limiting their applications and/or functions. We demonstrate a novel reversible self-assembly of soft 3D architectures actuated by the self-folding of smart polymer substrates with programmed geometries. The substrates can reversibly respond to external stimuli to actuate planar origami/kirigami films for self-assembly of 3D architectures and they become parts of final 3D architectures, empowering their reversibility and freedom. The self-assembly process is controlled by origami and kirigami design patterned by direct laser writing. A variety of 3D architectures like “flower”, “rainbow”, “sunglasses”, “box”, “ptramid”, “grating”, and “armchair”, are assembled. The reported self-assembly also shows wide applicability to various soft materials including epoxy, polyimide, laser-induced graphene, and metal films. A micro light-emitting diode (µ-LED) and a flex sensor are integrated with the self-assembled 3D architectures, indictaing the potential applications in soft robotics, wearable electronics, bioelectronics, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).