Kirigami can be used to create radio antennas from nanoparticles for space applications.

Kirigami is the art of creating three-dimensional paper objects solely through folding and cutting. Initially, this technique was used to adorn imperial palaces and theaters with elegant figures and patterns.

Later, elements of paper modeling found their way into gift wrapping, greeting cards, and the publication of pop-up children's books. Today, the principles of kirigami are actively applied in science—specifically in medicine, robotics, and electronics.

Researchers from Drexel University (USA) and the University of British Columbia (Canada) were also inspired by this Japanese method. Instead of using sheets of paper, the scientists utilized acetate covered with a conductive composition made from maxen (a layered material based on carbides or nitrides of transition metals). They applied a chain of 19 split ring resonators onto the substrate, made the necessary cuts, and created a flexible 3D structure.

Deformation, or stretching the model from the edges, caused the square resonator antennas to extend from the 2D plane, altering the signal transmission frequency across ranges from two to 12 gigahertz. Moreover, the matrix with longer kirigami cuts and thinner nanomaterial tracks proved to be more sensitive to mechanical influences, resulting in inconsistent and non-reproducible outcomes.

The experiment demonstrated that the dimensions of the cut pattern directly affect the ability to re-tune microwave antennas under voltage influence.

The developers believe that their work has potential applications in soft robotics (for designing flexible, adaptive, and human-safe robots), radio electronics, and conducting space missions. Thin and lightweight structures based on nanomaterials will enable the control of electromagnetic wave propagation by altering the electrical and magnetic properties of the surface.

The researchers detailed their findings in an article published in the journal Nature Communications.