Video - Wrangling wrinkles

MIT scientists learn how to control wrinkling as stretched surfaces relax. The process involves stretching a silicon-based polymer before depositing a second layer of polymeric material on top. As demonstrated in the visualizations in the video, the stretched surface is them carefully relaxed, and the two tightly-bonded materials cause wrinkle patterns. By varying the amount of substrate material originally stretched, the researchers can change the size and spacing of the wrinkles. This simple method could be useful in a variety of fields from microfluidics to medical diagnostics and beyond.