In a breakthrough that blends ancient design with modern materials science, researchers at the University of Houston have developed a new class of ceramic structures that can bend under pressure — without breaking.
Potential applications for this technology range from medical prosthetics to impact-resistant components in aerospace and robotics, where lightweight — but tough — materials are in high demand.
Traditionally known for their brittleness, ceramics often shatter under stress, making them difficult to use in high-impact or adaptive applications. But that may soon change as a team of UH researchers, led by Maksud Rahman, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Md Shajedul Hoque Thakur, Postdoctoral Fellow, has shown that origami-inspired shapes with a soft polymer coating can transform fragile ceramic materials into tough, flexible structures. Their work was recently published in Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials.
“Ceramics are incredibly useful — biocompatible, lightweight, and durable in the right conditions — but they fail catastrophically,” said Rahman. “Our goal was to engineer that failure into something more graceful and safer.”
To do that, the team 3D printed a ceramic structure based on the Miura-ori origami pattern — a way to fold something flat, like paper, so it takes up less space but stays flat overall — and then coated it with a stretchable, biocompatible polymer.
The resulting structures can handle stress in ways ordinary ceramics cannot. When compressed in different directions, the coated structures flexed and recovered, while their uncoated counterparts cracked or broke.
Here is an exclusive Tech Briefs interview, edited for length and clarity, with Rahman and Thakur.
Tech Briefs: What was the biggest technical challenge you faced while developing the origami-inspired ceramics?
Rahman: It was a combination of several technical challenges. Designing origami-inspired structures for 3D printing is manageable. And while 3D printing ceramics is challenging, it’s also within reach with the right equipment. But the most difficult part was 3D printing a highly complex structure like the 3D Miura-ori using ceramic resin — especially since the resin itself was still experimental. That presented a whole new level of difficulty. We had to go through many iterations to figure out the smallest possible features that could still be accurately printed in such a complex architecture with this experimental resin. On top of that, ceramics are extremely brittle by nature. Since origami structures rely on some degree of bending or flexibility, we faced a key question: how do you make a brittle material like ceramic accommodate that? Our solution was to apply a thin layer of flexible coating that could enable controlled deformation without compromising structural integrity.
Tech Briefs: What was the catalyst for this project? How did the work come about?
Rahman: Origami engineering has already made a significant impact in fields ranging from prosthetics to space applications — but almost exclusively with flexible materials. Since origami structures rely on some degree of bending or flexibility, we were curious: how do you make a brittle material like ceramic accommodate that? What benefits could origami engineering offer to brittle materials like ceramics? What we found was remarkable — origami architectures can actually help prevent catastrophic failure in brittle materials like ceramics and make them significantly more damage-tolerant.
Tech Briefs: Can you explain in simple terms how it works please?
Thakur: First, we designed the origami structure on a computer using MATLAB and then turned that design into a 3D printable file. We used the Formlabs Form 2 3D printer. It prints by shining a laser into a tank of liquid resin, hardening it layer by layer to create the object. The ceramic resin is a mix of liquid resin and tiny silica particles suspended in that resin. This lets the printer handle ceramic like any other liquid resin, even though it’s actually full of ceramic material. But the printed object is not ceramic yet. It's more like a plastic part with silica inside it but it’s now in the origami shape. Next, we wash off any extra resin and let it dry. Finally, we bake/sinter them at high temperature to burn away plastic and fuse the silica into solid ceramic.
Now we have the 3D-printed origami ceramic, but it is still brittle. So, to help them flex a little without breaking, we added a soft, rubbery silicone coating. We dipped the ceramic structure in liquid silicone under vacuum so it could reach every little corner, then cured it in an oven to make it solid. We did this twice to make sure the coating was thick enough to offer protection while still allowing some movement. This combination of intricate shape and flexible coating is what makes the structure both strong and damage-tolerant.
Tech Briefs: Do you have any set plans for further research/work/etc.? If not, what are your next steps?
Rahman: The ideal goal of this project would be to achieve complete 2D to 3D bendable ceramics. To move toward that, our next step is to explore how we can tweak the design of the origami pattern — like adjusting angles and panel sizes — to make the ceramic structures more flexible for specific uses. We’re also interested in using AI-based algorithms to optimize the designs. The goal is to create customized, lightweight ceramic structures that can handle stress better, which could be useful from protective gear to aerospace components.
Tech Briefs: Is there anything else you’d like to add that I didn’t touch upon?
Rahman: Just that this work is a reminder of how interdisciplinary research can lead to surprising breakthroughs. We combined concepts from origami art, materials science, and 3D printing — and ended up discovering new ways to work with ceramics, a class of materials not typically associated with flexibility. It’s exciting to think about where this intersection of ideas might lead next.
Tech Briefs: Do you have any advice for researchers aiming to bring their ideas to fruition (broadly speaking)?
Rahman: Be ready to iterate — a lot. Especially when you're working with new materials or unconventional combinations, things rarely work on the first try. Stay curious, be open to learning from unexpected results, and don’t be afraid to go beyond your comfort zone or discipline. Often, the most innovative ideas come from connecting dots across different fields.
