Princeton University

Mathias Trau

Ilhan A Aksay

George M Whitesides

Srinivas Manne

Itaru Honma

Dudley A Saville

A process directed to preparing surfactant-polycrystalline inorganic nanostructured materials having designed microscopic patterns. The process includes forming a polycrystalline inorganic substrate having a flat surface and placing in contact with the flat surface of the substrate a surface having a predetermined microscopic pattern. An acidified aqueous reacting solution is then placed in contact with an edge of the surface having the predetermined microscopic pattern. The solution wicks into the microscopic pattern by capillary action. The reacting solution has an effective amount of a silica source and an effective amount of a surfactant to produce a mesoscopic silica film upon contact of the reacting solution with the flat surface of the polycrystalline inorganic substrate and absorption of the surfactant into the surface. Subsequently an electric field is applied tangentially directed to the surface within the microscopic pattern. The electric field is sufficient to cause electro-osmotic fluid motion and enhanced rates of fossilization by localized Joule heating.

Biomimetic pathways for assembling inorganic thin films and oriented mesoscopic silicate patterns through guided growth

A method apparatus is provided for electrophoretically depositing particles onto an electrode, and electrohydrodynamically assembling the particles into crystalline structures. Specifically, the present method and apparatus creates a current flowing through a solution to cause identically charged electrophoretically deposited colloidal particles to attract each other over very large distances (&lt;5 particle diameters) on the surface of electrodes to form two-dimensional colloidal crystals. The attractive force can be created with both DC and AC fields and can modulated by adjusting either the field strength or frequency of the current. Modulating this 'lateral attraction' between the particles causes the reversible formation of two-dimensional fluid and crystalline colloidal states on the electrode surface. Further manipulation allows for the formation of two or three-dimensional colloidal crystals, as well as more complex 'designed' structures. Once the required structures are formed, these three-dimension colloidal crystals can be permanently 'frozen' or 'glued' by controlled coagulation induced by to the applied field to form a stable crystalline structure.

Apparatus for electrohydrodynamically assembling patterned colloidal

Biomimetic pathways for assembling inorganic thin films and oriented

Method for electrohydrodynamically assembling patterned colloidal

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Balmoral, Australia

Mathias Trau