Experimental demonstration of lightweight lattice metamaterials with controllable low thermal expansion

Abstract

Materials with customized thermal expansion, capable of avoiding thermal failure or distortion of structures and devices, are vital for aerospace, civil, biomedical, optics and semiconductor applications. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of natural materials usually is hard to be engineered and a negative CTE is still exceptional. Here, we have synthesized a polymer with low thermal expansion by blending Zirconium tungstate (ZrW2O8), and have experimentally demonstrated extremely low thermal expansion of 2D non-metallic bi-material Hoberman spherical lattice metamaterials, showing a metal-like CTE with 1.0 × 10−5 °C−1. The theoretical prediction is implemented to verify the tested CTE and unveil the underlying mechanisms responsible for this unusual behavior. The findings presented here have experimentally validated to design architected metamaterial systems with controllable low thermal expansion and having a wide range of potential applications.