RSA CE&C 2015-2021 Group descriptions

78 for horticulture and improvedharvestingof solar energy viamechanically active, topologically changing anti-fouling materials for solar panels. 2. Health Food safety, water treatment and at-home diagnostics are regarded as grand societal challenges. To meet these challenges, new stimuli-responsive materials are highly desirable. In the SFD group, nanoporous polymer materials and battery-free optical sensors are being developed for water treatment, clinical diagnostics and smart food packaging. Self- organizing liquid crystals and their polymers allow stimuli-responsive nanoporous materials for filtration, adsorption, separation, recovery and catalysis and even scaffolds for the differentiation and proliferation of stem cells and organs. Inexpensive, battery-free optical sensors based on polymer cholesteric liquid crystals are being made to respond to stimuli such as temperature, humidity, chemicals, oxygen and carbon dioxide for applications in food, personal care and health. 3. Personal comfort The key research areas are developing soft robotics, haptic devices and smart textiles. Rapid advances in technologies demand devices that interact directly with humans. Current touchscreen technologies convey feedback mostly as vibrations; SFD is developing polymer-based materials for localized haptic feedback through (micro-)morphing surfaces which transfer between flat and structured states, as well as self-cleaning surfaces. Tribology changes (friction and adhesion) can be used to make untethered robots for transporting, gripping or releasing objects. Selective active material deposition allows for novel actuating modes. Also, electricity-steered material deposition creates surfaces combining tangible and visible surface effects. Smart textiles which regulate the (human) environment may be applied in many fields, including fashion, medicine, sports or entertainment. We develop smart-coated (humidity, thermo and photo-responsive) fibers and textiles. Diffractive and reflective optical coatings are incorporated in fibers which alter visual perception and generate new degrees of freedom for textile and fashion designers or which act as sensors. Major accomplishments in the evaluation period