A tightly compressed bundle of office staples can behave in a surprising way. Even though it is made of many separate pieces, the tangled mass can be difficult to pull apart and can act almost like a single solid object.
Yet that same bundle can quickly come undone. With the right vibration or movement, the staples can separate and return to a loose collection of individual pieces.
Researchers at the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder believe this unusual combination of strength and reversibility could help inspire a new generation of engineered materials. By designing particles that interlock in a similar way to staples, they hope to create materials that are strong, adaptable, and potentially recyclable.
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