Researchers use graphene oxide to design a material that can channel mechanical energy in a preferred direction

Researchers from Japan's RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and Nagoya University have developed a material, based on graphene oxide nanofillers embedded in a hydrogel, that can channel mechanical energy in one direction but not the other, acting in a “nonreciprocal” way. Using the composite material - which can be constructed at various sizes - the team was able to use vibrational, up-and-down movements, to make liquid droplets rise within a material. Using the material could make it possible to use random vibration usefully to move matter in a preferred direction.