Home > Press > Out of this world: UD professor reports smart fluids research in scientific journal
 |
Eric M. Furst reports new findings of how tiny particle building blocks can be directed to self-assemble into specific structures.
Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson |
Abstract:
Imagine a computer chip that can assemble itself.
According to Eric M. Furst, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Delaware, engineers and scientists are closer to making this and other scalable forms of nanotechnology a reality as a result of new milestones in using nanoparticles as building blocks in functional materials.
Out of this world: UD professor reports smart fluids research in scientific journal
Newark, DE | Posted on September 18th, 2012
Furst and his postdoctoral researchers, James Swan and Paula Vasquez, along with colleagues at NASA, the European Space Agency, Zin Technologies and Lehigh University, reported the finding Sept. 17 in an article in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) online edition.
Entitled "Multi-scale kinetics of a field-directed colloidal phase transition," the article details how the research team's exploration of colloids, microscopic particles that are mere hundredths the diameter of a human hair, to better understand how nano-"building blocks" can be directed to "self-assemble" into specific structures.
The research team studied paramagnetic colloids while periodically applying an external magnetic field at different intervals. With just the right frequency and field strength, the team was able to watch the particles transition from a random, solid like material into highly organized crystalline structures or lattices.
According to Furst, a professor in UD's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, no one before has ever witnessed this guided "phase separation" of particles.
"This development is exciting because it provides insight into how researchers can build organized structures, crystals of particles, using directing fields and it may prompt new discoveries into how we can get materials to organize themselves," Furst said.
Because gravity plays a role in how the particles assemble or disassemble, the research team studied the suspensions aboard the International Space Station (ISS) through collaborative efforts with NASA scientists and astronauts. One interesting observation, Furst reported, was how the structure formed by the particles slowly coarsened, then rapidly grew and separated - similar to the way oil and water separate when combined - before realigning into a crystalline structure.
Already, Furst's lab has created novel nanomaterials for use in optical communications materials and thermal barrier coatings. This new detail, along with other recorded data about the process, will now enable scientists to discover other paths to manipulate and create new nanomaterials from nanoparticle building blocks.
"Now, when we have a particle that responds to an electric field, we can use these principles to guide that assembly into structures with useful properties, such as in photonics," Furst added.
The work could potentially prove important in manufacturing, where the ability to pre-program and direct the self-assembly of functional materials is highly desired.
"This is the first time we've presented the relationship between an initially disordered structure and a highly organized one and at least one of the paths between the two. We're excited because we believe the concept of directed self-assembly will enable a scalable form of nanotechnology," he said.
About PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is among the world's most-cited multidisciplinary scientific serials. Established in 1914, the periodical publishes cutting-edge biological, physical and social science research reports, commentaries, reviews, papers and more. PNAS is published weekly in print and daily online in PNAS Early Edition.
Article by Karen B. Roberts
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
University of Delaware
Office of Communications & Marketing
302-831-NEWS
Copyright © University of Delaware
If you have a comment, please
Contact us.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
Article - “Multi-scale kinetics of a field-directed colloidal phase transition.”
News and information
How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013
Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013
Chip Technology
Researchers Stitch Defects into the World’s Thinnest Semiconductor May 22nd, 2013
Whirlpools on the Nanoscale Could Multiply Magnetic Memory: At the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab scientists join an international team to control spin orientation in magnetic nanodisks May 22nd, 2013
Imec and GLOBALFOUNDRIES collaborate to advance high-density memory technology: STT-MRAM offers enhanced performance and scalability for embedded and standalone applications May 21st, 2013
Penn engineers' nanoantennas improve infrared sensing May 20th, 2013
Self Assembly
Beautiful "flowers" self-assemble in a beaker: Elaborate nanostructures blossom from a chemical reaction perfected at Harvard May 17th, 2013
DNA-Guided Assembly Yields Novel Ribbon-Like Nanostructures: Approach could be useful in fabricating new kinds of materials with engineered properties May 16th, 2013
Production of Sensitive Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensor Using Silver Nanoparticles April 26th, 2013
Scientists see nanoparticles form larger structures in real time April 22nd, 2013
Discoveries
How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
Whirlpools on the Nanoscale Could Multiply Magnetic Memory: At the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab scientists join an international team to control spin orientation in magnetic nanodisks May 22nd, 2013
Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater May 22nd, 2013
Announcements
How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013
Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013