Tailoring toughness and adhesion through architected interfaces

A new design paradigm has emerged for interfaces between materials, where architecture is used to control stress transfer, adhesion, and failure. In this Perspective, we consolidate disparate design strategies under a unified framework of “architected interfaces.” Different designs are characterized by their architectural feature size relative to a stress-localization length and dominant toughening mechanism. We conclude by identifying key challenges that must be overcome to realize architected interfaces in structures.