通过粒子辅助水滴模板法制备超疏水材料

利用水滴模板法成功制备出孔径可控的具有结构规则的聚合物多孔膜,并以所制备多孔膜为模板利用反向复刻法复制孔洞阵列结构,得到具有微米级突起阵列结构的聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)膜片,然后将事先排布好的二氧化硅微球阵列通过热压印法转移到具有微米级突起结构的PDMS膜片上,然后成功制备出具有微纳米复合突起结构的膜片。通过对具有不同突起结构组合的PDMS膜片进行接触角测试发现,膜片的接触角随着其表面粗糙程度的增大而增大,即具有微纳复合结构膜片接触角((150.7±3.2)°)最大,达到了超疏水的效果;无突起结构膜片的接触角((108.9±3.1)°)最小;而仅具有微米级结构膜片的接触角((134.6±1.0)°)居中,这符合目前已知的物质表面浸润性与其表面粗糙度的关系。另外,经测试,具有微纳复合结构的膜片接触角最大达到155°,同时具有非常大的滚动角,使得这种膜片材料具备了粘性超疏水的性能,而这种特殊浸润表面性质可以在液体无损传输、生化分离等领域拥有巨大的应用前景。     

Fabrication and Mechanical Properties of Large‐Scale Freestanding Nanoparticle Membranes

Thin‐film membranes consisting of nanoparticles are of interest in applications ranging from nanosieves to electric, magnetic, or photonic devices and sensors. However, the fabrication of large‐scale membranes in a simple but controlled way has remained a challenge, due to the limited understanding of their mechanical properties. Systematic experiments on ultrathin, freestanding nanoparticle membranes of different core materials, core sizes, and capping ligands are reported. The results demonstrate that a drying‐mediated self‐assembly process can be used to create close‐packed monolayer membranes that span holes tens of micrometers in diameter. Containing up to ≈10⁷ particles, these freely suspended layers exhibit remarkable mechanical properties with Young's moduli of the order of several GPa, independent of membrane size. Comparison of three different core–ligand combinations suggests that the membrane's elastic response is set by how tightly the ligands are bound to the particle cores and by the ligand–ligand interactions.     

Arrays of Hollow Silica Half‐Nanospheres Via the Breath Figure Approach

Breath figures (BFs) are patterns of liquid droplets that usually form upon condensation on a cold surface. Earlier work has shown that BFs can be used to produce continuous films of porous honeycomb‐structured patterns on various types of materials, paving the path to a number of important applications such as the manufacturing of highly ordered nano‐ and micron‐sized templates, micro lenses, and superhydrophobic coatings. It is worth noting, however, that few new findings have been reported in this area in recent years, limiting pursuits of novel architectures and key applications. In this report, an alternative method is described by which arrays of hollow silica half‐nanospheres can be produced via BF templates. In the present method, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) protocol performed while the BF is formed on a glass substrate yields a nanostructured pattern of silica half‐spheres, which size (100–700 nm) and density across the glass surface vary with substrate modification and with the relative rates of water condensation and hydrolysis from silica precursors (a process carried out at room temperature). This method of forming arrays of hollow half‐nanospheres via the BF approach may be applicable to various other oxides and a broad range of substrates including large‐area flexible plastics.     

Unconventional Atomic Structure of Graphene Sheets on Solid Substrates

The atomic structure of free‐standing graphene comprises flat hexagonal rings with a 2.5 Å period, which is conventionally considered the only atomic period and determines the unique properties of graphene. Here, an unexpected highly ordered orthorhombic structure of graphene is directly observed with a lattice constant of ≈5 Å, spontaneously formed on various substrates. First‐principles computations show that this unconventional structure can be attributed to the dipole between the graphene surface and substrates, which produces an interfacial electric field and induces atomic rearrangement on the graphene surface. Further, the formation of the orthorhombic structure can be controlled by an artificially generated interfacial electric field. Importantly, the 5 Å crystal can be manipulated and transformed in a continuous and reversible manner. Notably, the orthorhombic lattice can control the epitaxial self‐assembly of amyloids. The findings reveal new insights about the atomic structure of graphene, and open up new avenues to manipulate graphene lattices.     

Capture and Culturing of Living Cells on Microstructured DNA Substrates

A modular system for the DNA‐directed immobilization of antibodies was applied to capture living cells on microstructured DNA surfaces. It is demonstrated in two different set‐ups, static incubation and hydrodynamic flow, that this approach is well suited for specific capture and selection of cells from culture medium. The adhered cells show intact morphology and they can be cultivated to grow to dense monolayers, restricted to the lateral dimensions of DNA spots on the surface. Owing to the modularity of surface biofunctionalization, the system can readily be configured to serve as a matrix for adhesion and growth of different cells, as demonstrated by specific binding of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293) and Hodgkin lymphoma L540cy cells onto patches bearing appropriate recognition moieties inside a microfluidic channel. We therefore anticipate that the systems described here should be useful for fundamental research in cell biology or applications in biomedical diagnostics, drug screening, and nanobiotechnology.     

呼吸图案法制备聚苯乙烯有序多孔膜

有序多孔膜是一种可以应用于众多领域的功能性材料,建立简单、低廉和安全的制备方法能够强有力地推进多孔膜材料的广泛利用.本文用水作为模板剂,以溶解于甲苯的工业通用级聚苯乙烯(PS,PG-22)溶液为成膜材料,利用呼吸图案法成功地制备出多孔膜,并采用扫描电镜(SEM)对所制的多孔膜形貌进行了观察,分别研究了动态和静态气氛、制膜液用量、质量浓度、环境湿度等条件对孔径大小和分布的影响.结果表明,制备有序多孔膜的适宜条件为:在环境温度25℃和用甲苯为溶剂时,聚合物质量浓度为25 mg/m L,用量0.8 m L,环境湿度85%(相对湿度),并保持静态气氛.采用聚苯乙烯溶液多次涂覆方法可以增加多孔膜厚度,有利于提高其机械强度,也为有序多孔碳材料的制备奠定了基础.     

An Altgernating Method Based on the VNA Solution for Analysis of Damaged Solid Containing Arbitrarily Distributed Elliptical Microcracks

This paper presents the development of an alternating method for the interaction analysis of arbitrary distributed numerous elliptical microcracks. The complete analytical solutions (VNA solutions) for a single elliptical crack in an infinite solid, subject to arbitrary crack-face tractions, are implemented in the present alternating method, together with the coordinate transformations for stress tensors. First, the present method is verified by solving the problems of two interacting cracks for which accurate numerical solutions have been obtained previously. Next, the present method demonstrates obtaining efficient and accurate solutions for the problems of many interacting elliptical cracks, which cannot be solved in a practical sense by the ordinary numerical methods such as the finite element method. Furthermore, damaged solids containing periodically distributed elliptical microcracks are analyzed by the present alternating method. The effective elastic moduli are evaluated for varying microcrack density. Detailed structures of the interactions in the damaged solids are visualized and clarified. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.