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How are nanostructures created? Imaging techniques unveil secrets of electrodeposition

Metallic nanoparticles, consisting of a few to several thousand atoms or simple molecules, are attracting significant interest. Electrodes coated with layers of nanoparticles (nanolayers) are particularly useful in areas such as energy production, serving as catalysts. A convenient method for producing such layers on electrodes is electrodeposition, the subtle complexities of which have just been revealed by an international team of researchers led by scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow. Their paper is published in the journal Nano Letters. Research on nanoparticles is yielding promising results for technologies related to energy, medicine, and electronics. One of the key challenges is effectively controlling the synthesis and growth of nanostructures.

Developing a new system based on thermogalvanic effect to make mirror polishing easy, to save myself time with Bath interferometer in hand.

Easy to see how it can be generalized to parabolic + spherical mirror with parabolic focus at spherical center mirror doublet, and to many more applications where zero astigmatism is desired, but you don't want to spend a month polishing this shit.

#optics #physics #electrodeposition #fabrication #DIY #nelke.txt

Researchers use amino acids to grow high-performance copper thin films

For the first time, researchers from Missouri S&T have shown that highly ordered copper thin films can be crystallized directly on a one-molecule-thick layer of organic material rather than on the inorganic substrates that have been used for years.

The copper thin films they've produced are excellent candidates for use as underlying substances for solar cells, LEDs, and high-temperature superconductors, says Dr. Jay Switzer, Chancellor's Professor and Curators' Distinguished Professor emeritus of chemistry, who is principal investigator of the project. Switzer says that other researchers have previously electroplated thin films onto self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of organic molecules, but those films lacked the in-plane and out-of-plane order required for electronic applications.

"Like the way seashells, bones or teeth are formed, we've found a way to give the copper films the right level of crystalline order and durability for their applications," says Switzer. "With our process, which mimics biomineralization, we're creating inorganic thin films with superior qualities of single-crystal-like order, high conductivity and flexibility."

Hybrid technique to produce stronger nickel for auto, medical, manufacturing

Nickel is a widely used metal in the manufacturing industry for both industrial and advanced material processes. Now, Purdue University innovators have created a hybrid technique to fabricate a new form of nickel that may help the future production of lifesaving medical devices, high-tech devices and vehicles with strong corrosion-resistant protection.

The Purdue technique involves a process where high-yield electrodeposition is applied on certain conductive substrates. The Purdue team's work is published in the December edition of Nanoscale.

One of the biggest challenges for manufacturers with nickel is dealing with the places within the metals where the crystalline grains intersect, which are known as the boundary areas. These conventional grain boundaries can strengthen metals for high-strength demand.

However, they often act as stress concentrators and they are vulnerable sites for electron scattering and corrosion attack. As a result, conventional boundaries often decrease ductility, corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity.

Electroplating: The birth of a single nucleus caught in camera

Electroplating, or electrodeposition, is one of the most important processes in chemistry, in which a metal cation in solution can be reduced to its elemental form by applying an electrical potential to an electrode.

This enables electrical contacts to be made in integrated circuits with nanometric precision.

Despites decades of research worldwide, visualising the early stages of electrodeposition - the formation of the first nucleus - remains a formidable challenge.

A collaborative work involving the University of Bristol's Schools of Chemistry, Physics and the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials CDT has come up with an entirely new approach to monitoring the processleading to the birth of a nucleus in real time.

Writing in the journal Nature Communication, the team show how detecting very small local perturbation of the water structure near the surface, the complex dynamics of early stages of electrodeposition can be tracked.

Is there a better way to create organic bioelectronics?

New fabrication technique allows more control over electrical properties

With increasing scientific and medical interest in communication with the nervous system, demand is growing for biomedical devices that can better record and stimulate the nervous system, as well as deliver drugs and biomolecules in precise dosages.

Researchers with the University of Houston and Pennsylvania State University have reported a new fabrication technique for biocompatible neural devices that allow more precise tuning of the electrical performance of neural probes, along with improved properties for drug delivery.

"For years, scientists have been trying to interact with the nervous system, to diagnose Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, brain tumors and other neural disorders and diseases earlier," said Mohammad Reza Abidian, associate professor of biomedical engineering at UH and lead author of a paper describing the fabrication technique in the journal Advanced Materials. "In our laboratory we create micro- and nano-devices to communicate with neurons."

Abidian said the new fabrication method allows researchers to precisely control the surface morphology of conducting polymer microcups, improving performance. They used electrojetting and electrodeposition methods for fabricating conducting polymer microcups on the surface of bioelectronics.

Prostheses with controlled degradation rate

Since magnesium alloys are degradable, they could provide an alternative to the metals traditionally used as prostheses, connecting parts to heal bones or as stents for cardiovascular problems. A study by the UPV/EHU Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao has made progress on one of the weak points of the new material. Its degradation rate has been adjusted by applying a calcium phosphate coating to the surface via electrodeposition, and the thickness of the layer has been accurately adjusted.

Bimetals have long been used in medicine, mainly in prostheses, but also in connecting parts to heal bones or in stents used to solve cardiovascular problems, among other things. The metals most used traditionally—stainless steel and titanium alloys—offer advantages, such as their resistance to corrosion in the physiological environment, but also drawbacks, such as the reduction in bone density close to the prosthesis, which leads to a loss of bone resistance. Furthermore, on many occasions additional surgery has to be performed to remove the material once it has fulfilled its function.

Electrodeposition and annealing used to allow for adjusting hardness in nanograined metals

A team of researchers from China and France have adjusted the hardness of nanograined metals by applying electrodeposition and annealing. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their technique and suggests some applications they believe could benefit from such metal treatments.

Normal metals tend to become harder as their grain size grows smaller (as described by the Hall–Petch relationship), but the same is not always true for certain nanograined metals—they actually grow softer. In normal metals, smaller grain size increases strength because of pileups between grains—the pileups work against dislocation, making it more difficult for the metal to be bent or to break it. But when grain size is at the nanoscale (from 10 to 30 nm in size), things change, because instead of pileups, grains can sometimes simply move when stressed. This means some nanograined metals can actually grow softer as more migration occurs. In this new effort, the researchers discovered a way to manipulate grain migration that allowed them to adjust the hardness of a metal.

Is there a better way to create organic bioelectronics?

New fabrication technique allows more control over electrical properties

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