Soft multistable magnetic-responsive metamaterials

The wireless actuation of magnetic soft architectures can enable complex functionalities important in biomedicine and soft robotics. However, transforming and maintaining a device’s desired geometry without a sustained energy input remains challenging, especially where environmental stresses can be unpredictable. Here, we create a soft multistable magnetic-responsive metamaterial with programmable energy barriers enabled by a bistable geometry made entirely from soft material. The multistability and magnetic programming enable the soft metamaterials to reversibly transform between stable states, even under mechanical and thermal stresses that far exceed physiological conditions. In addition, the metamaterials can sustain compressive loads more than 10 times their mass, achieve shape reconfiguration in remote and confined spaces, and wirelessly deliver fluids against pressure, suggesting a broad range of future biomedical and soft robot applications.