Table 1. Summary of representative studies on programmable materials

Material		Authors	Title	Source	Majorthemes
Elastomer	PEG	Muff et al.	Bilayer Bending ActuatorsBased on Semicrystalline Polyurethanes with Large Thermal-Expansion Coefficients	Adv. Intell. Syst. 2023	High CTE PEG soft segments and HDI/BDO crosslinking with a PEG/BDO ratio that tunes crystallinity for humidity-sensitive performance while enabling 50? thermal bending, using a semi-crystalline PU bilayer.
	LCE	Guo et al.	Shape-programmable liquid crystal elastomer structures with arbitrary three-dimensional director fields and geometries	Nat. Commun. 2021	Acrylate-based LCE voxels (≈60−100 μm) printed by two-photon lithography from LC mono-/diacrylates, azodye dopant, and photoinitiator, enabling fully programmable 3D director fields and reversible optical morphing.
	DEA	Hajiesmaili et al.	Reconfigurable shape-morphing dielectric elastomers using spatially varying electric fields	Soft Matter 2021	Dielectric-elastomeric laminates: Stacked UV-cured acrylic layers separated by CNT electrodes with overlap tapers with height, creating an internal E-field gradient for fast and fully reversible bidirectional morphing with purely electrical drive.
Polymer	LCP	Li et al.	Liquid-induced topological transformations of cellular microstructures	Nature 2021	Solvent plasticized LCP/SU-8/PDMS micro-lattices: Acetone lowers modulus by up to 300× and forces the zipper walls by capillary evaporation, enabling reversible to-pology rewiring.
	Hydrogel	Jiang et al.	Strong, self-healable, and recyclable visible-light-responsive hydrogel actuators	Angew. Chem. 2020	BIFA-functionalized poly(MAA-co-OEGMA) hydrogels combine π-π stacking with visible light-induced anthracene photodimer cross-linking, while sacrificial acid-ether H-bonds co-release energy to enable rapid self-healing and fully reversible operation.
	Biocomposite	Chen et al.	Superhydrophobic light-driven actuator based on self-densified wood film with a sandwich-like structure	Compos. Sci. Technol. 2022	A self-contained high-density cellulose film composed of an Fe?O? core, CNT interlayer, and MTMS silanized skin forms an ultra-hydrophobic, photothermal wood-based actuator.
	Biocomposite	Lu et al.	Gradient wood-derived hydrogel actuators constructed by an isotropic-anisotropic structure strategy with rapid thermal-response, high strength and programmable deformation	Chem. Eng. 2025	Injection of TOCN-PNIPAM hydrogels (gradient isotropic/anisotropic) into delignified wood channels provides robust and ultrafast programmable actuation in the vicinity of LCSTs.
Metal	Liquid	Zhang et al.	Coaxially printed magnetic-mechanical-electrical hybrid structures with actuation and sensing functionalities	Nat. Commun. 2023	Remote field actuation and magnetic induction sensing with EGaIn core, PDMS/NdFeB magnetic sheath, and optional PDMS skin over coaxial DIW.
	Solid	Zhang et al.	Rapidlydeployableandmor-phable 3D mesostructures with applications in multi-modal biomedical devices	PNAS2021	Litho-patterned, spin-coated PI/Cu/Ni sandwich precursors buckled in millimeter-scale 3D integrate Cu Lorentz and Ni magnetic drives for multiple stable morphologies.