Search results for "Note"

Directed Assembly of Soft Colloids through Rapid Solvent Exchange

2015

We studied the directed assembly of soft nanoparticles through rapid micromixing of polymers in solution with a nonsolvent. Both experiments and computer simulations were performed to elucidate the underlying physics and to investigate the role of various process parameters. In particular, we discovered that no external stabilizing agents or charged end groups are required to keep the colloids separated from each other when water is used as the nonsolvent. Furthermore, the size of the nanoparticles can be reliably tuned through the mixing rate and the ratio between polymer solution and nonsolvent. Our results demonstrate that this mechanism is highly promising for the mass fabrication of un…

Anodic Alumina Membranes for Fuel Cell Technology and Nanostructure Template-assisted Deposition

2009

Anodic alumina membranes (AAMs) with ordered porous structure have been investigated as possible ionic conducting membranes for thin film (= 50μm) fuel cells (TFFC) and as templates for the production of a variety of nanostructure arrays. The aims of this work are to present some of our recent results pertaining to the functionalisation of AAM with proton conductors for the production of membranes to be used in hydrogen/oxygen TFFC, at low or intermediate temperature (25°C ≦ T ≦ 250°C), and to the fabrication by template technique of nanowires/nanotubes arrays of oxide and hydroxides for possible future technological application.

One-step large-scale deposition of salt-free DNA origami nanostructures

2015

AbstractDNA origami nanostructures have tremendous potential to serve as versatile platforms in self-assembly -based nanofabrication and in highly parallel nanoscale patterning. However, uniform deposition and reliable anchoring of DNA nanostructures often requires specific conditions, such as pre-treatment of the chosen substrate or a fine-tuned salt concentration for the deposition buffer. In addition, currently available deposition techniques are suitable merely for small scales. In this article, we exploit a spray-coating technique in order to resolve the aforementioned issues in the deposition of different 2D and 3D DNA origami nanostructures. We show that purified DNA origamis can be …

Highly selective chemical sensing in a luminescent nanoporous magnet.

2012

Among the wide variety of properties of interest that a given material can exhibit, luminescence is attracting an increasing attention due to its potential application in optical devices for lighting equipment and optical storage, [ 1a − c] optical switching, [ 1d ,e] and sensing. [ 1f − i ] At this respect, many scientists, working in the multidisciplinary fi eld of the materials science, have directed their efforts to the obtention of luminescent materials with potential sensing applications. For instance, sensitive and selective detection of gas and vapor phase analytes can result specially interesting because of the variety of applications that can be found in many different fi elds. A …

Template-Based Fabrication of Nanometer-Scaled Actuators from Liquid-Crystalline Elastomers

2010

Template-assisted fabrication of free-standing nanorod arrays of a hole-conducting cross-linked triphenylamine derivative: toward ordered bulk-hetero…

2009

Free-standing nanorod arrays of a thermally cross-linked semiconducting triphenylamine were fabricated on conductive ITO/glass substrates via an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template-assisted approach. By using a solution wetting method combined with a subsequent thermal imprinting step to fill the nanoporous structure of the template with a cross-linkable triphenylamine derivative, a polymeric replication of the AAO was obtained after thermal curing and selective removal of the template. To obtain well-aligned and free-standing nanorod arrays, aggregation and collapse of the nanorods were prevented by optimizing their aspect ratio and applying a freeze-drying technique to remove the aqueous…

Self-cleaning antimicrobial surfaces by bio-enabled growth of SnO2 coatings on glass.

2013

Conventional vapor-deposition techniques for coatings require sophisticated equipment and/or high-temperature resistant substrates. Therefore bio-inspired techniques for the fabrication of inorganic coatings have been developed in recent years. Inspired by the biology behind the formation of the intricate skeletons of diatoms orchestrated by a class of cationic polyamines (silaffins) we have used surface-bound spermine, a naturally occurring polyamine, to promote the fast deposition of homogeneous, thin and transparent biomimetic SnO2 coatings on glass surfaces. The bio-enabled SnO2 film is highly photoactive, i.e. it generates superoxide radicals (O2˙(-)) upon sunlight exposure resulting i…

Superconducting tunnel junction fabrication on three-dimensional topography via direct laser writing

2020

Superconducting junctions are widely used in multitude of applications ranging from quantum information science and sensing to solid-state cooling. Traditionally, such devices must be fabricated on flat substrates using standard lithographic techniques. In this study, we demonstrate a highly versatile method that allows for superconducting junctions to be fabricated on a more complex topography. It is based on maskless direct laser writing (DLW) two-photon lithography, which allows writing in 3D space. We show that high-quality normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) tunnel junctions can be fabricated on top of a 20 $\mu$m tall three-dimensional topography. Combined with more advanced r…

Poroelastic metamaterials with negative effective static compressibility

2017

We suggest a three-dimensional metamaterial structure exhibiting an isotropic expansion in response to an increased hydrostatic pressure imposed by a surrounding gas or liquid. We show that this behavior corresponds to a negative absolute (rather than only differential) effective compressibility under truly static and stable conditions. The poroelastic metamaterial is composed of only a single ordinary constituent solid. By detailed numerical parameter studies, we find that a pressure increase of merely one bar can lead to a relative increase in the effective volume exceeding one percent for geometrical structure parameters that should be accessible to fabrication by 3D printing.

Configurable low-cost plotter device for fabrication of multi-color sub-cellular scale microarrays.

2014

We report on the construction and operation of a low-cost plotter for fabrication of microarrays for multiplexed single-cell analyses. The printing head consists of polymeric pyramidal pens mounted on a rotation stage installed on an aluminium frame. This construction enables printing of microarrays onto glass substrates mounted on a tilt stage, controlled by a Lab-View operated user interface. The plotter can be assembled by typical academic workshops from components of less than 15 000 Euro. The functionality of the instrument is demonstrated by printing DNA microarrays on the area of 0.5 squared centimeters using up to three different oligonucleotides. Typical feature sizes are 5 μm diam…