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In a new Angewandte Chemie  paper, researchers report a major advance in controlling water-soluble azopolymers with low-energy visible light  by using a strategy called sensitized disequilibration (DESC) . Traditionally these molecular switches require harmful UV light, but by combining DESC with polymers made via RAFT, the team achieved switching efficiencies up to about 85 % under yellow light , opening doors for light-driven soft materials and biomedical applications. A sp

Shuai Zang and Matias Paatelainen have developed a hydrogel-based hybrid microcavity laser sensor  that uses the unique interaction between soft hydrogel materials and plasmonic effects to dramatically boost laser-based sensing performance. This novel sensor, published recently in ACS Sensors , exploits the microcavity’s optical resonance to achieve enhanced detection sensitivity, potentially opening new avenues for ultrasensitive chemical and biological sensing technologies.

Roshan Nasare was awarded the Best Poster Award for Best Visuals  at the ENS Science Day on 18.12.2025. The poster stood out for its clear design, strong visual presentation, and effective communication of scientific ideas. The recognition highlights Roshan’s ability to combine research excellence with impactful visual storytelling. SPM is proud of you, Roshan!

Smart Photoic Materials group is a part of a European consortium awarded €3 million under the EIC Pathfinder Open program. The project, entitled HoloMorPh — Holographic surface Morphing for ready-to-use planar Photonic components, aims to revolutionize the way flat-optics are designed and fabricated. Tampere University's share in the consortium is 0.63 million euros that will be used to develop novel photomorphers for ready-to-use and reprogrammable diffractive optical elemen

SPM is delighted to welcome Pedram Tootoonchian with a background in Chemistry and a passion for soft robotics. With his expertise in hydrogel actuators and nanoparticle synthesis in gel media, he will work on developing dual-responsive hybrid actuators by combining light-responsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) with magneto-sensitive hydrogels. Welcome to Tampere University and the SPM group, Pedram, we look forward to the discoveries ahead!