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NC State Engineers Discover Nanoparticles Can Break On Through
September 17, 2008In a finding that could speed the use of sensors or barcodes at the nanoscale, North Carolina State University engineers have shown that certain types of tiny organic particles, when heated to the proper temperature, bob to the surface of a layer of a thin polymer film and then can reversibly recede below the surface when heated a second time.
Selectively bringing a number of particles to a surface and then sinking them back below it results in controllable surface patterns. According to NC State researchers involved in the project, patterning surfaces is one of the holy grails of current nanotechnology research, and is difficult to do with certain particles. They add that the finding could result in tiny reusable bar codes, or in small fluorescent features that turn off when they sense too much heat or the presence of a certain chemical.
Dr. Jan Genzer, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and Dr. Richard Spontak, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and materials science and engineering, published their finding along with graduate students Arif Gozen and Bin Wei in the journal Nano Letters. They worked with engineers who designed the unique particles at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
The researchers used a special type of organic nanoparticle called a core-shell microgel in which the core of a cross-linked, or networked, polymer is surrounded by a shell of a different polymer.
"Most polymers are chain-like macromolecules that are like very long, cooked spaghetti noodles, but these special core-shell particles are shaped more like squash balls of one polymer with a fuzzy surface of a different polymer," Spontak says.
Heating these approximately 30-nanometer particles - which are hundreds of times smaller than a human hair - allows them to break through a polymer/polymer interface like a submarine coming to the surface of water. Reheating the particles at a polymer surface sinks them back below the surface.
"This technique allows us to place the particles right where we want them - on the surface of a thin film," Genzer says. "It can be used to create a reusable bar code, for instance, or other functional polymer surfaces."
North Carolina State University
The researchers used a special type of organic nanoparticle called a core-shell microgel in which the core of a cross-linked, or networked, polymer is surrounded by a shell of a different polymer.
"Most polymers are chain-like macromolecules that are like very long, cooked spaghetti noodles, but these special core-shell particles are shaped more like squash balls of one polymer with a fuzzy surface of a different polymer," Spontak says.
Heating these approximately 30-nanometer particles - which are hundreds of times smaller than a human hair - allows them to break through a polymer/polymer interface like a submarine coming to the surface of water. Reheating the particles at a polymer surface sinks them back below the surface.
"This technique allows us to place the particles right where we want them - on the surface of a thin film," Genzer says. "It can be used to create a reusable bar code, for instance, or other functional polymer surfaces."
North Carolina State University
Polymer Film Current Events and Polymer Film News RSSCaltech scientists solve decade-long mystery of nanopillar formations
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have uncovered the physical mechanism by which arrays of nanoscale (billionths-of-a-meter) pillars can be grown on polymer films with very high precision, in potentially limitless patterns.
Graffiti-free historic buildings
Many a historic landmark is defaced with graffiti, but the spray paint can only be removed - if at all - using caustic solutions which risk damaging the underlying surface. A new breathable coating provides efficient, all-round protection against attacks by taggers.
A drug-dispensing contact lens
Taking eye drops multiple times a day can be difficult for patients to do, and because of blinking and tearing, as little as 1 to 7 percent of the dose is actually absorbed by the eye.
Nanoribbons from sliced open nanotubes: new, faster, more accurate method from Stanford
A world of potential may lie tied up in graphene nanoribbons, particularly for electronics applications. But researchers have been hampered in their efforts to fully explore that potential because they had no reliable way of creating the large quantities of uniform nanoribbons needed to conduct extensive studies.
Insights into polymer film instability could aid high tech industries
While exploring the properties of polymer formation, a team of scientists at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has made a fundamental discovery about these materials that could improve methods of creating the stable crystalline films that are widely used in electronics applications-and also offer insight into a range of other phenomena.
Paperwork: Buckypapers clarify electrical, optical behavior of nanotubes
Using highly uniform samples of carbon nanotubes-sorted by centrifuge for length-materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made some of the most precise measurements yet of the concentrations at which delicate mats of nanotubes become transparent, conducting sheets.
MIT gel changes color on demand
MIT researchers have created a new structured gel that can rapidly change color in response to a variety of stimuli, including temperature, pressure, salt concentration and humidity.
Drawing Nanoscale Features the Fast and Easy Way
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new technique for nanolithography that is extremely fast and capable of being used in a range of environments including air (outside a vacuum) and liquids.
Princeton engineers develop low-cost recipe for patterning microchips
Creating ultrasmall grooves on microchips -- a key part of many modern technologies -- is about to become as easy as making a sandwich, using a new process invented by Princeton engineers.
Electronic displays that fit on clothing could power revolution in lighting
A thin film of plastic which conducts electricity and produces solar power could be the basis for a revolution in the way we light our homes and design clothes.
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