News: Complex Materials and Processing

DOE-funded partnership aims to make single-use plastic packaging endlessly recyclable
The Department of Energy has granted $2 million over three years to Braskem America, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Princeton University to develop plastic that can be recycled perpetually, reducing waste and pollution from single-use plastics.
Researchers find the best way for bacteria to navigate maze-like environments
When bacteria spread through soil, tissues and other environments crammed with obstacles, keeping on the straight and narrow path leads to dead ends. Instead, bacteria move through open spaces until they get trapped, then reorient to hop through an opening to the next hole. A new model developed by Princeton researchers explains why this hop-and-trap strategy works for bacteria and how it could be optimized for self-propelled polymers.
Tiny bubbles help create soft robotics
Princeton researchers have invented bubble casting, a new way to make soft robots using "fancy balloons" that change shape in predictable ways when inflated with air.