ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | JULY 2026 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY 12 FUSED SILK OFFERS 6G POTENTIAL Researchers at Imperial College London, the University of Michigan, and Tufts University discovered that silk threads can be fused into transparent, plastic-like materials that twist terahertz frequencies of light. Their work could enable components of 6G networks to be made of upcycled silk. The new materials are also lightweight and stronger than many metal alloys and traditional plastics. In ballistics tests, the new materials were nearly as puncture-resistant as the carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers often used in airplane and car bodies. In addition, the materials slowly degrade when implanted into mice, making them a promising option for temporary medical implants. The scientists are especially interested in the material’s ability to polarize terahertz frequencies of light. The 6G band, which can transmit data up to hundreds of times faster than 5G networks, extends into terahertz frequencies. The team was able to fine-tune the degree of polarization by changing the temperature and pressure at which they pressed the silk. When the fibers are heated between 257° and 419°F and 1900 and 9800 atmospheres of pressure, water evaporates from the silk, and the tangled regions fuse together to create a single sheet without degrading the neat folds inside the fibers. The team is now exploring how to scale their manufacturing process to larger and more complex shapes. umich.edu. ORIGAMI TURNS SHEETS INTO LOADBEARING SHAPES Researchers at McGill University, Canada, found a new way to fold flat sheets into smooth, curved shells that can switch from floppy and flexible to stiff and load bearing on demand. By designing a special origami pattern and threading cable-like ele- ments through it, they can control the material’s final 3D shape and how rigid it becomes. The result is a “doubly curved lens box.” They say it could advance the technology of objects such as temporary emergency tents, morphing robots, and smart fabrics. “Existing foldable structures face a trade-off: If they are smooth and nicely curved, they tend to be soft and floppy; if they are strong and stiff, they usually look faceted, jagged or uncomfortable, and their shape is hard to tune once built,” says researcher Damiano Pasini. To overcome this limitation, the team designed an origami pattern with curved creases that folds into smooth, doubly curved surfaces, such as spheres or tori, and can then be locked into a rigid, load-bearing state. By adding internal tendons whose tension can be adjusted, the same structure can be reprogrammed to be ultra soft or very stiff, without altering its shape or materials. Starting from a desired curved shape, the team used differential geometry followed by numerical optimization to compute the exact crease pattern needed so that once folded and locked, the origami shell would match the target geometry. www.mcgill.ca. Purdue University and GeChi Compound Semiconductor Co. (GCCS), Taiwan, signed a five-year memorandum of understanding to speed commercialization of silicon carbide. The agreement targets the critical thermal, power, and 6G bottlenecks constraining the next generation of high-compute infrastructure. GCCS will provide semiconductor materials and Purdue will serve as a technology hub. purdue.edu. BRIEF From left: Nick Kotov and John Kim measure how a silkderived material polarizes and absorbs light. Courtesy of Marcin Szczepanski/University of Michigan Engineering. Illustration of a tent constructed via McGill’s novel origami pattern. Courtesy of Morad Mirzajanzadeh.
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