Preparation and assembly of mesoscale polydimethylsiloxane ribbons

Long, thin filaments are widely used in nature and our everyday lives, from collagen fibrils to yarns. These building blocks assemble into hierarchical structures in order to achieve impressive, multifunctional performance properties, which are difficult to replicate with any other structures. Creating such structures using bottom-up fabrication methods with synthetic materials is challenging due to the complex topological pathways and numerous force interactions that need to be navigated and managed. Building upon recent studies focused on understanding and controlling multiscale kinematics of mesoscale polymer ribbons, we introduce new methods to fabricate crosslinked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mesoscale ribbons. PDMS ribbons allow us to manage reversible adhesion interactions between neighboring ribbons, large scale elastic movements, and well-established solvent-PDMS interactions to control swelling-induced transformations. We use subtractive transfer printing to prepare the crosslinked PDMS ribbons, and we quantify the influence of processing parameters, including elastic modulus, thickness, and rates of transfer-based deformations. Furthermore, we demonstrate the ability to release mesoscale PDMS ribbons into fluid environments and observe transient swelling-induced deformations.