(synthesizer music)

Imagine if there was a way

to mass produce tiny robots no bigger than a cell

quickly, easily, and accurately,

with little to no external stimulus.

Well, a team of engineers at MIT

have developed a novel method where they can do just that.

Using the naturally occurring fracturing process

of atomically thin, brittle materials such as graphene,

the researchers are able to design

and successfully fabricate

small, synthetic cells, called syncells for short,

that could eventually be used to monitor conditions

inside an oil or gas pipeline or search out disease

while floating through the bloodstream.

The novel process, called autoperforation,

allows for engineers to control

the natural fracture lines in a material,

directing the lines so that they produce

exactly what the engineer desires.

In this case, the end results are minuscule pockets

of predictable size and shape

containing electrical circuits and materials

that can collect, record, and output data.

To build these syncells, first a layer of graphene

is laid down on a surface.

Then, tiny dots of a polymer material

containing the electronics for the devices

are deposited by a micro array printer.

Then, a second layer of graphene is laid on top.

When the top layer of graphene is placed

over the array of polymer dots, the places where

the graphene drapes over the edges of the dots

form lines of high strain in the material.

You can think of a tablecloth draped over a circular table.

The highest levels of strain develop toward the table edges

where the cloth hangs down.

That is essentially what is happening in this process,

but the strain is controlled.

So similar to the table cloth,

the fractures in the graphene are concentrated

right along the boundaries of the structure

and will completely fracture around the periphery.

The result: a round piece of graphene

that looks as if it's been cleanly cut out

by a microscopic hole punch.

Apart from the syncells' potential uses

for industrial or biomedical monitoring,

the researchers say that the way the tiny devices are made

is itself an innovation with great potential.

This general procedure of using controlled fracture

as a production method could potentially be used

with any 2D material.

Essentially opening up a whole new toolkit

for micro and nano fabrication.

(light, cheerful synthesizer music)