Collaborative research: shape-memory polymers for multiscale force sensing and propagation within biomaterials and at the biomaterial-cell interface

The National Science Foundation Division of Materials Research awarded Clarkson University $169,761 on August 1, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to develop shape-memory polymers that sense and report mechanical force in real time across multiple scales, from single molecules to whole materials. The polymers incorporate force-sensing molecules that change color in proportion to applied forces, providing continuous signals throughout the material and at the interface between living cells and the material. Anticipated deliverables include tools for real-time force monitoring in manufacturing and healthcare, new platforms to study cellular mechanical sensing and response, and new sensors for disease treatment and wound healing. The project also expands an annual workshop series into rural regions of New York State and Texas to strengthen the STEM workforce. Performance runs through July 31, 2029, at Clarkson University's location in Potsdam, New York. The project is collaborative research involving researchers at Syracuse University and Texas A&M University, though the source does not specify their roles or funding allocations.

Abstract

Non-technical summary a material that can feel force and report exactly how strong that force is, at every location within IT, in real time, would advance biotechnology and medicine. IT could help scientists understand how living cells push and pull on the materials around them, guide engineers developing better wound dressings and implants, and enable new sensors for disease treatment. Today, measuring these forces inside materials and at the boundary between materials and cells is difficult, because existing instruments work only at surfaces, only at the scale of individual molecules, or only after the fact, not during the dynamic processes that matter most. This project develops shape-memory polymers that sense and report mechanical force in real time, at scales spanning single molecules to the whole material. Shape-memory polymers can be changed into a stable temporary shape and then return to their original shape on CUE. By incorporating force-sensing molecules into these polymers, researchers at syracuse university, clarkson university, and texas a & m university produce materials that change color in proportion to the forces they experience, providing a continuous signal throughout the material and at the interface between living cells and the material. The project advances NSF?s priorities in biotechnology, materials research, and advanced manufacturing, and supports the national health, prosperity, and welfare. Anticipated outcomes include tools for real-time force monitoring in manufacturing and healthcare, new platforms to study how cells sense and respond to their mechanical environment, and new sensors for disease treatment and wound healing. The project also strengthens the american stem workforce by expanding an annual workshop series into rural regions of new york state and texas, placing leading-edge materials science, including printable smart polymer materials, into high school classrooms open to all americans, and building a national pipeline of science and engineering talent. Technical summary multiscale force generation and transduction in biomaterials and at the interface between biomaterials and biological targets is fundamental to the rational engineering and predictive design of stimuli-responsive biomaterials, a class of materials central to NSF?s priorities in biotechnology, materials research, and advanced manufacturing. Critical gaps exist in understanding how forces propagate across physical scales from nanoscale to bulk and across temporal scales from seconds to weeks. Tools for direct, real-time measurement of force states across these scales during dynamic processes are limited, as is a strategy for controlling multiscale force propagation in biomaterials and biointerfaces. This project studies mechanophore-incorporated, self-sensing shape-memory polymers (smps). A recently developed dynamic mechanophore (mdpac) is incorporated into a cytocompatible polyurethane SMP platform; mdpac reports applied force through a continuous shift in fluorescence emission wavelength, enabling force distribution mapping from molecular to material levels. The work pursues four objectives: (1) characterize biomaterial self-sensing at the nanoscale and at interfaces using surface-tethered mechanophores to establish a calibrated force-fluorescence relationship; (2) quantify bulk-scale force propagation using mechanophores physically and chemically incorporated into cast films and electrospun scaffolds; (3) develop a multiscale computational framework integrating density functional theory (DFT), steered molecular dynamics (SMD), and a continuum polymer network model to predict force transduction from polymer chains to bulk materials; and (4) design cell-responsive mechanophore-incorporated smps that report shape change triggered by cell-produced proteases. The strategies developed in this work are transferable to hydrogels, elastomers, and other polymer platforms relevant to biotechnology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.