Highlights

M.A. Carreon, B. G. Trewyn, A. Sellinger

Successful synthesis of novel MOF compositions employing “in-house made” organic linkers. These MOF compositions displayed superior catalytic ability in the conversion of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) into liquid fuel hydrocarbons. Synthesis of microporous carbon membranes derived from metal organic frameworks for natural gas purification. The resultant membranes displayed separation ability for CH4/C3H8 gas mixtures, relevant to natural gas purification.

Surface Patterning of Nanoparticles with Polymer Patches

Sep 19, 2016

Research Triangle MRSEC (2011)

Surface Patterning of Nanoparticles with Polymer Patches

Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada Rachelle M. Choueiri, Elizabeth Galati, Héloïse Thérien-Aubin, Anna Klinkova, Egor M. Larin, Ana Querejeta-Fernández & Eugenia Kumacheva Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA Lili Han, Huolin L. Xin & Oleg Gang Institute of New Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China Lili Han Institute of Macromolecular Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, 199004, Russia Ekaterina B. Zhulina Saint Petersburg National University of Informational Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Saint Petersburg, 197101, Russia Ekaterina B. Zhulina Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, USA Michael Rubinstein Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, 4 Taddle Creek Road, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G9, Canada Eugenia Kumacheva Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada Eugenia Kumacheva

We demonstrate nanoparticle surface patterning, which utilizes thermodynamically driven segregation of polymer ligands from a uniform polymer brush into surface pinned micelles following a change in solvent quality.

RT-MRSEC Graduate Fellow Launches Award-Winning Startup Company

Sep 14, 2016

Research Triangle MRSEC (2011)

RT-MRSEC Graduate Fellow Launches Award-Winning Startup Company

Nick Kirby, Wyatt Shields, Wes Day - Duke University

A team of Duke graduate students has been named one of five companies receiving a total of $250,000 through the NC IDEA Foundation - an organization committed to supporting entrepreneurial business innovation and economic advancement in North Carolina.

Coalescence of two water drops on a polystyrene particle leads to the launching of the particle away from the supporting substrate. Image source: Roger Chavez, Duke University

Sep 14, 2016

Research Triangle MRSEC (2011)

Self-Propelled Bouncing Droplets Remove Contaminants

Roger L. Chavez, Duke University Fangjie Liu, Duke University James J. Feng, University of British Columbia Chuan-Hua Chen, Duke University

Researchers at Duke University and the University of British Columbia are exploring whether surfaces can shed dirt without the use of fragile superhydrophobic coatings.

Synergistic Chemical Action Leads to Enhanced Adhesion

Aug 9, 2016

Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UCSB

Synergistic Chemical Action Leads to Enhanced Adhesion

Allison Butler, University of California, Santa Barbara Jacob Israelachvili, University of California, Santa Barbara Herb Waite, University of California, Santa Barbara

Siderophores are compounds in microorganisms that bind and store iron. Parallels between the chemistry of compounds secreted by mussels to aid adhesion to rocks, and the chemistry of some siderophores inspired UCSB researchers Butler, Israelachvili, and Waite and their coworkers to study their adhesive properties.

3D Multimodal Imaging of Biphasic Thermoelectrics

Aug 9, 2016

Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UCSB

3D Multimodal Imaging of Biphasic Thermoelectrics

Craig J. Hawker, University of California, Santa Barbara Tresa Pollock, University of California, Santa Barbara DMR 1121053

The use of a prototype “TriBeam” microscope, a scanning electron microscope equipped with a femtosecond laser for rapid serial sectioning, allows 3D views of materials to be obtained. Incorporating both chemical data and crystallographic data has allowed the nature, structure, and crystal orientation of the components to be determined within a 155 μm × 178 μm × 210 μm volume of a biphasic Heusler thermoelectric material.

Electrocatalytic Surfaces Using Bulk Metallic Glass Nanostructures

Jul 7, 2016

CRISP: Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (2011)

Electrocatalytic Surfaces Using Bulk Metallic Glass Nanostructures

Chinedum Osuji, Jan Schroers, and Andre Taylor

Metallic glass nanostructures provide a new platform for electrocatalytic applications. Several surface modification strategies that remove or add metal species (images, right) improve the catalytic activity of metallic glass nanostructures. These strategies were demonstrated for three key electrocatalytic reactions important for renewable energy.

Jul 7, 2016

CRISP: Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (2011)

Revealing Hidden Phases in Materials

Sohrab Ismail-Beigi, Charles Ahn, and Fred Walker

Strong interactions at the interface between a crystalline film and substrate can impart new structure to thin films. Here, a germanium surface (purple atoms) squeezes a BaTiO3 thin film above, revealing a hidden phase not seen in the bulk. The hidden phase of BaTiO3 shows oxygen octahedra cages (shaded in aqua) alternating in size. By combining theory, synchrotron x-ray diffraction, and electron microscopy, a new materials design approach has uncovered hidden traits of a material that can be expressed through articulated forces at an interface.

The metasurface, consisting of plasmonic nanoantennas shown in the inset, was fabricated onto a glass substrate and illuminated by ultrafast laser pulses. The trajectory of the accelerating beam was imaged using a standard setup consisting of two lenses and a CCD.

Jun 21, 2016

Center for Photonic and Multiscale Nanomaterials (2011)

Metasurface Generation of Accelerating Light

M. Henstridge1, C. Pfeiffer2, D. Wang3, A. Boltasseva3, V. Shalaev3, A. Grbic2, and R. Merlin1 1Department of Physics, University of Michigan 2Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan 3School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University

Artificially designed planar devices known as metasurfaces can control the output of an incident beam to generate prechosen patterns.

InN/GaN Dot-in-Nanowire Heterostructure Array Grown by MBE on (001) Silicon Substrate, schematic of the Device and TEM image of single Nanowire

Jun 21, 2016

Center for Photonic and Multiscale Nanomaterials (2011)

A III-Nitride Monolithic Nanowire Laser for Silicon Photonics

Pallab Bhattacharya1, Joanna Millunchick2, Arnab Hazari1, and Lifan Yan2 1EECS Department, 2MSE Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Present day silicon chips for communication and computing are densely packed with transistors and other passive elements.