Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mica L. Pitcher, Breanna Huntington, Juliana Dominick, Amir Sheikhi
Summary: This study evaluates the potential of an acid-free method to convert various lignocellulosic biomass into highly charged micro-and nano-structured materials. The sequential oxidation of lignocellulosic sources yields different types of nanoparticles with extremely high charge density. These materials show promising applications in removing neodymium ions from dilute solutions.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Zhewen Ma, Jianzhong Zhang, Cristian Maluk, Youming Yu, Seyed Mohsen Seraji, Bin Yu, Hao Wang, Pingan Song
Summary: This study presents a lava-inspired fire-retardant coating composed of ceramic precursors, boron nitride nanosheets, and a fire-retardant polymer. The coating forms a noncombustible ceramic char layer similar to lava when exposed to flame, providing effective fire protection for various materials including foam, wood, and steel.
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wei Wang, Ping-Fan Li, Rui Xie, Xiao-Jie Ju, Zhuang Liu, Liang-Yin Chu
Summary: Smart polymeric materials that can respond to environmental stimuli and dynamically adjust their physico-chemical characteristics have gained significant attention in various fields. The combination of micro-/nano-structures and molecular design offers promising opportunities for the development of advanced smart polymeric materials. This review highlights recent progress in the design and fabrication of smart polymeric materials that incorporate micro-/nano-structures and molecular design to achieve desired functions. Various examples, including smart hydrogels, gating membranes, gratings, milli-particles, micro-particles, and microvalves, are discussed, emphasizing the interplay between their micro-/nano-structures and responsive properties for practical applications. The review concludes with perspectives on the current challenges and future opportunities in the development of micro-/nano-structured smart polymeric materials.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xinrui He, Yi Niu, Hailong Sun, Xing Chen, Zhirong Wang, Jing Jiang, Chao Wang
Summary: Transition-metal phosphides, particularly bimetallic phosphides NiCoP/CC with 3D nano-micro structure, are promising candidates for supercapacitors. The unique electronic structure of NiCoP/CC significantly enhances its energy density compared to Ni2P/CC, while the 3D nano-micro structure provides multidirectional charge transfer pathways. This study demonstrates the potential of NiCoP/CC as a high-performance electrode material for supercapacitors, offering a universal approach for rational material development.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2023)
Article
Instruments & Instrumentation
Wei Jin, Haihong Bao, Pengcheng Zhao, Yan Zhao, Yun Qi, Chao Wang, Hoi Lut Ho
Summary: The use of micro- and nano-structured optical fibers allows for parts-per-million to parts-per-trillion level gas detection for various gases. Recent developments in optical fiber gas cells and detection systems have focused on direct absorption, photothermal, photoacoustic, and stimulated Raman spectroscopies.
Review
Engineering, Biomedical
Esfandyar Askari, Mahdieh Shokrollahi Barough, Mehdi Rahmanian, Nazanin Mojtabavi, Ramin Sarrami Forooshani, Amir Seyfoori, Mohsen Akbari
Summary: This article summarizes the applications of micro/nanostructured hydrogels in cancer immunotherapy, focusing on their local and systemic effects and potential clinical translation. Hydrogels as carriers can stimulate immune cells by releasing tumor lysate, drugs, or nanovaccines, activating systemic antitumor immune responses and inhibiting tumor metastasis and recurrence.
ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biophysics
Priya Mandal, Jayanth Ivvala, Harpreet S. Arora, Sajal K. Ghosh, Harpreet S. Grewal
Summary: Inspired by biological systems, a study focused on large scale fabrication of superhydrophobic and multifunctional aluminum surfaces with excellent antibacterial activity and corrosion resistance. The coated surfaces have self-cleaning ability and prevent biofouling, making them suitable for biological environment and marine components.
COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chi Liu, Yue Feng, Xin Liu, Yue Yuan, Yunqiang Li, Tao Shen
Summary: This paper presents an optical fiber sensor that enables multi-parameter measurement of magnetic field, temperature, and displacement. The sensor utilizes fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) coated with giant magnetostrictive particle composite (GMPC) for magnetic field measurement, another FBG for displacement measurement, and a micro-nano fiber structure for temperature measurement. The sensor provides independent measurement of the three parameters and has potential applications in high-voltage systems, engineering quality monitoring, and circuit safety monitoring.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Anna Mariano, Claudia Latte Bovio, Valeria Criscuolo, Francesca Santoro
Summary: The development of a functional nervous system depends on interactions between neurons and cues in the neural extracellular matrix (ECM). ECM topographical cues strongly influence neuronal function and behavior. This article discusses how the blueprint of the brain's ECM organization can inspire the design of biomimetic substrates that enhance neural interfaces and control neuronal behavior. Strategies to mimic cell-ECM and cell-cell interactions are explored, including the use of roughness and 3D scaffolds. Anisotropic features such as grooves and fibers can guide neuronal development, while isotropic topographical cues can reproduce neuron-neuron interactions. Advanced techniques like two-photon polymerization and dynamic interfaces are paving the way for smart biointerfaces in neural tissue engineering and repair strategies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yinuan Liu, Zhijing Feng, Chengyi Xu, Atrouli Chatterjee, Alon A. Gorodetsky
Summary: This study draws inspiration from cephalopod skin to engineer systems with hierarchically reconfigurable wrinkled surface morphologies and dynamically tunable visible-to-infrared spectroscopic properties. The research demonstrates architectures that can change surface morphological characteristics through mechanical actuation, modulate reflectance, transmittance, and absorptance across a broad spectral window, control specular-to-diffuse reflectance ratios, and alter visible and thermal appearances. Furthermore, the incorporation of these architectures into electrically actuated appearance-changing devices is presented, featuring competitive figures of merit such as reasonable maximum areal strains, rapid response times, and good stabilities upon repeated actuation.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wei Gao, Zhouyue Lei, Kai Wu, Yongping Chen
Summary: Passive radiative technology for sustainable cooling has been developed using reconfigurable and renewable nano-micro-structured plastics. These plastics not only achieve higher cooling efficiency, but also have the potential for recycling, providing an environmentally sustainable solution for addressing thermal issues of electronic devices and challenges of global warming.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Guanghui Zhang, Jingchao Wang, Haoran Zhang, Tianyong Zhang, Shuang Jiang, Bin Li, Huoli Zhang, Jianliang Cao
Summary: This study successfully prepared hierarchical tubular micro-nano structured AgCl/Ag/TiO2 hybrids, which exhibited good catalytic activity and stability by controlling the dosage of AgNO3 and mass ratio of the components.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Yoo-Kyum Shin, Yujin Shin, Jung Woo Lee, Min-Ho Seo
Summary: This article summarizes recent advances in micro/nano-structured biodegradable pressure sensor devices, focusing on significant improvements in device-level performance and functionality achieved by adjusting geometrical design parameters at the micro- and nano-meter scale.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Chao Yang, Suihan Cui, Yuchang Weng, Zhongcan Wu, Liangliang Liu, Zhengyong Ma, Xiubo Tian, Ricky K. Y. Fu, Paul K. Chu, Zhongzhen Wu
Summary: Utilizing plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) technique to prepare superhydrophobic inorganic alumina coatings with T-shape micro/nano structures in a single step without organic modification. The coatings exhibit excellent heat resistance, corrosion resistance, and superhydrophobicity, showing potential applications in various fields due to their simplicity, economy, and robust performance under different environmental conditions.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Liu Yang, Bo Dong, Qi Shao, Senpeng Zhang, Zongyu Chen
Summary: This paper presents a polymer/SiO2 hybrid waveguide micro-ring filter based on a short carbon nanotube (CNT) nano-film. The nano-film is coated on the top surface of the polymer waveguide, and both the nano-film and polymer waveguide serve as the core of the device. The nano-film effectively improves the coherent depth and quality factor values of the filter. The filter shows good all-optical tunable performance due to the excellent light absorption characteristic and large thermo-optic effect of the CNT nano-film.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Denver P. Linklater, Phuc H. Le, Arturo Aburto-Medina, Russell J. Crawford, Shane Maclaughlin, Saulius Juodkazis, Elena P. Ivanova
Summary: A biomimetic nanostructured surface inspired by dragonfly wings was developed, which exhibited antifungal and fungicidal properties by physically rupturing attaching fungal spores upon contact. The hydrophilic nature of the nanostructured surface was found to be crucial for its antifungal activity.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Optics
Shivasubramanian Gopinath, Praveen Periysamy Angamuthu, Tauno Kahro, Andrei Bleahu, Francis Gracy Arockiaraj, Daniel Smith, Soon Hock Ng, Saulius Juodkazis, Kaupo Kukli, Aile Tamm, Vijayakumar Anand
Summary: In this study, a large-area diffractive lens with three sub-aperture diffractive lenses was realized using a Golay-like configuration, which relaxes the fabrication constraints and improves the imaging resolution. The computational optical experiments demonstrated enhanced optical and computational imaging resolutions compared to previous studies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Giedrius Balcas, Mangirdas Malinauskas, Maria Farsari, Saulius Juodkazis
Summary: This article provides an overview of a recent advancement in optical 3D printing, where crosslinkable materials and nanomaterial fillers are polymerized and guided to form final structures and new composites through high temperature annealing (HTA). By using ultrafast laser direct writing, 3D nano/micro-structures are defined and their precursor composition is tailored for subsequent tunability of final properties during the HTA process at temperatures between 750-1500 degrees C. This method takes advantage of efficient pyrolysis and calcination, facilitated by the large surface-to-volume ratio conditions, to enable chemical exchange between glass/ceramic and surrounding materials.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Optics
Yi-shi Xu, Zhen-ze Li, Zi-han Wang, Hong Xia, Yue-feng Liu, Saulius Juodkazis, Qi-dai Chen, Lei Wang
Summary: Femtosecond laser-induced deep-subwavelength structures have gained attention as a nanoscale surface texturization technique. Non-reciprocal writing via tailored optical far-field exposure is demonstrated, achieving continuous manipulation of ripple period on indium tin oxide (ITO) film. A full electromagnetic model is developed to explain the formation of ripples and the asymmetry of focal spot determines the non-reciprocity. This non-reciprocal writing technique offers new possibilities for precise and controllable nanoscale surface texturing.
Article
Optics
Yi-Shi Xu, Zhen-Ze Li, Hua Fan, Yue-Feng Liu, Hong Xia, Saulius Juodkazis, Qi-Dai Chen, Lei Wang
Summary: This study demonstrates the formation mechanism of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) from a nanohole seed structure to high-spatial-frequency LIPSS using a tightly focused and rectangular-shaped laser beam with different shape-polarization orientations. A quantitative match between modeling and experiment is achieved by forming LIPSS based on light intensity distribution. The results reveal the step-like and deterministic process of LIPSS evolution and the dominant structural near-field enhancement on the ripple formation.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jovan Maksimovic, Haoran Mu, Molong Han, Daniel Smith, Tomas Katkus, Vijayakumar Anand, Yoshiaki Nishijima, Soon Hock Ng, Saulius Juodkazis
Summary: Ultra-short 230 fs laser pulses of 515 nm wavelength were focused to 700 nm spots on a Cr etch mask, creating similar to 400 nm nano-holes. The ablation threshold was found to be 2.3 nJ/pulse, and lower energies produced nano-disks while higher energies produced nano-rings. The controlled alloying of Si and Cr on large surface areas with sub-diffraction resolution was achieved using subtle sub-1 nJ pulse energy control.
Article
Polymer Science
Ahmed Al-Qatatsheh, Jaworski C. C. Capricho, Paolo Raiteri, Saulius Juodkazis, Nisa Salim, Nishar Hameed
Summary: The increasing demand for reliable and reproducible protocols in predicting the properties of novel materials, particularly rapidly cured epoxy resins with additives, has emphasized the power of computational modeling and simulation to establish links between intrinsic properties and atomic structure. This study introduces a novel computational modeling and simulation protocol for crosslinking rapidly cured epoxy resin thermosets using solvate ionic liquid (SIL). The protocol combines quantum mechanics (QMs) and molecular dynamics (MDs) approaches to provide a wide range of thermo-mechanical, chemical, and mechano-chemical properties that agree with experimental data.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
D. Gonzalez-Hernandez, B. Sanchez-Padilla, D. Gailevicius, S. Chandran Thodika, S. Juodkazis, E. Brasselet, M. Malinauskas
Summary: By studying the effect of laser exposure on materials, adjustable refractive index micro-optical devices can be manufactured with 3D nanolithography. The refractive index of micro-lenses is influenced by material density and morphology, and can be controlled through optimization of exposure. This research opens up possibilities for printing complex 3D shapes with desired refractive properties.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Optics
Amudhavel Jayavel, Shivasubramanian Gopinath, Praveen Periyasamy Angamuthu, Francis Gracy Arockiaraj, Andrei Bleahu, Agnes Pristy Ignatius Xavier, Daniel Smith, Molong Han, Ivan Slobozhan, Soon Hock Ng, Tomas Katkus, Aravind Simon John Francis Rajeswary, Rajesh Sharma, Saulius Juodkazis, Vijayakumar Anand
Summary: Pattern recognition techniques are essential for incoherent linear shift-invariant systems. The point spread function (PSF) samples object information in a camera system, which can be used for deblurring the object image. Deep learning-based image classification for computer vision applications has gained attention, and the quality of images plays a crucial role in classification accuracy. In this study, the Lucy-Richardson-Rosen algorithm (LR(2)A) was implemented to deblur images recorded with spatio-spectral aberrations, and it showed superior performance compared to other techniques. The LR(2)A was also applied to improve the image classification performances of deep convolutional neural networks.
Article
Optics
Daniel Smith, Soon Hock Ng, Amanda Tang, Tomas Katkus, Daniel Moraru, Saulius Juodkazis
Summary: Ultra-short laser pulses were used to laser ablate the surface of crystalline sapphire at high intensity. Annealing at high temperature led to surface reconstruction and reduction of surface roughness. The 3D shape of a micro-lens was not altered after annealing.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Greta Merkininkaite, Darius Gailevicius, Laurynas Staisiunas, Egle Ezerskyte, Rokas Vargalis, Mangirdas Malinauskas, Simas Sakirzanovas
Summary: This paper proposes a combination of precursor synthesis, laser lithography, and pyrolysis to fabricate hard ceramic SiOC 3D microstructures. Precursors are hybrid organosilicon materials prepared using sol-gel method and enabled laser photopolymerization process. Hard ceramic structures with high hardness and reduced elastic modulus are obtained after high-temperature pyrolysis under nitrogen atmosphere. The advantages of this method include the absence of shrinkage defects, smooth surfaces, and improved printing resolution.
ADVANCED ENGINEERING MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Subham Ranjan, Meguya Ryu, Ryota Morioka, Shuji Kamegaki, Soon Hock Ng, Daniel Smith, Jitraporn Vongsvivut, Mark J. Tobin, Saulius Juodkazis, Junko Morikawa, Satoshi Takamizawa
Summary: A unique scissor-like two-directional ferroelastic deformation was achieved in organic crystals, shedding light on the understanding of multidirectional deformations in organic compounds. The study also revealed a correlation between the anisotropic structural arrangement and the difference in thermal diffusivity and mechanical behavior.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Shuji Kamegaki, Daniel Smith, Meguya Ryu, Soon Hock Ng, Hsin-Hui Huang, Pegah Maasoumi, Jitraporn Vongsvivut, Daniel Moraru, Tomas Katkus, Saulius Juodkazis, Junko Morikawa
Summary: A four-polarisation camera was used to map the absorbance of olivine micro-grains before and after high-temperature annealing. It was found that high-temperature annealing caused magnetization of olivine xenoliths. Different operating modes of the polariscope were used to validate the three-point fit method for analyzing the birefringence and absorbance of the samples in transmission and reflection modes.
Article
Engineering, Manufacturing
Edvinas Skliutas, Danielius Samsonas, Arunas Ciburys, Lukas Kontenis, Darius Gailevicius, Jonas Berzins, Donatas Narbutas, Vytautas Jukna, Mikas Vengris, Saulius Juodkazis, Mangirdas Malinauskas
Summary: Multiphoton photopolymerisation (MPP), also known as 3D nanoprinting, was studied using a wavelength-tunable femtosecond laser. The influence of wavelength on the dynamic fabrication window (DFW) and the control over voxel aspect ratio were investigated. The results show that optimizing the wavelength can significantly improve the efficiency of 3D nanoprinting in various applications.
VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL PROTOTYPING
(2023)
Article
Quantum Science & Technology
Ahmed Al-Qatatsheh, Saulius Juodkazis, Nishar Hameed
Summary: This article discusses the challenges faced by current semiconductors and superconductors and proposes the development of a new class of organic spintronics. By utilizing materials such as ionic liquids, liquid and soft crystals, and open-shell macroradicals, organic spintronics can provide safer, faster, low-power computing and extended spin-relaxation times.
ADVANCED QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES
(2023)
