Scientists invent "slime" – could be used in medical, energy, robot applications

“The synchrotron is like a super-microscope,” says Pensini. “It allowed us to see that if you apply an electric field, you can change the crystalline structure of this material.”

Pensini, an associate professor at U of G, and colleagues, found that the “slime” could form different structures at the microscopic level so that it either arranged itself like a sponge, formed layers like a lasagna, or took on a hexagonal form. Pensini conducted the work in collaboration with U of G professors Alejandro G. Marangoni, Aicheng Chen, and Stefano Gregori.

This property, explains Pensini, could offer an opportunity for the targeted delivery of medicine within the body. “Imagine you have the material take an initial structure that contains a pharmaceutical substance and then, when an electric field is applied to it, the structure changes to release the medicine.”

The team’s prototype is composed of natural materials that are highly compatible with the body. It is 90 per cent water plus oleic acid (found in olive oil) and amino acids (the building blocks of protein in the body). “I wanted to make something that is 100 per cent benign and that I would put on my skin without any concerns,” she says.

The material could also be used to make bandages that actively promote healing. “Our bodies produce small electric fields to attract healing cells to an open wound,” says Pensini. “By creating a bandage that increases this electric field, healing could theoretically happen faster. In this case, the bandage would be activated by our natural movements and breathing.”

Pensini is excited about the potential uses for their “slime.” In the meantime, she plans to use it as a salve for her hands after rock climbing. “I need an initial guinea pig, so it might as well be me, right?”

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Pensini, Erica, Peter Meszaros, Nour Kashlan, Alejandro G. Marangoni, Stefano Gregori, Saeed Mirzaee Ghazani, Joshua van der Zalm, and Aicheng Chen. “Ferroelectric soft materials formed with alkanolamines and unsaturated fatty acids.” Journal of Molecular Liquids 419 (2025): 126823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2024.126823

Photos: Canadian Light Source | Brockhouse Beamline | Scientist/Samples

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