Spatiotemporal modulation of surface texture for information encoding and object manipulation

Dynamically tunable surface textures offer a powerful route to spatiotemporally regulate surface and interfacial properties, enabling emerging applications ranging from adaptive optics to soft robotic manipulation. However, achieving programmable, reversible, and spatiotemporal modulation of surface texture remains a fundamental challenge. Here, we present a photothermal-actuated liquid crystal elastomer bilayer that enables reversible, on-demand spatiotemporal modulation of surface textures through dynamically emerging and propagating wrinkles. Using direct laser writing or projected light fields, programmable and self-erasable wrinkle patterns are generated for dynamic information encoding. This spatiotemporal wrinkling enables object manipulation across diverse geometries, including uphill transport and navigation along predesigned paths. By coupling wrinkle-driven motion with thermally reversible dynamic bonding, the bilayer further enables assembly and disassembly of dynamic polymers, as well as cargo transportation. This work demonstrates spatiotemporally programmable wrinkling as a powerful mechanism for dynamic modulation of surface textures, establishing a versatile platform for multifunctional and reconfigurable smart surfaces. Dynamic control of surface textures is limited by static or coarse-patterned approaches, restricting their application in programmable object manipulation and information encoding. This study achieved reversible, spatiotemporally programmable surface wrinkling on a photothermal liquid crystal elastomer bilayer, enabling precise, on-demand surface patterning, object propulsion, self-erasing information encoding, and reversible assembly processes through localized light stimuli.