Related papers: Multiscale Surface-Attached Hydrogel Thin Films wi…
Temperature-responsive properties of surface-attached poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) network films with well-controlled chemistry are investigated. The synthesis consists of cross-linking and grafting preformed ene-reactive polymer…
Hydrogel adhesion that can be easily modulated in magnitude, space, and time is desirable in many emerging applications ranging from tissue engineering, and soft robotics, to wearable devices. In synthetic materials, these complex adhesion…
Thin films made of deformable micro- and nano-units, such as biological membranes, polymer interfaces, and particle-laden liquid surfaces, exhibit a complex behavior during drying, with consequences for various applications like wound…
UV-cured collagen-based hydrogels hold promise in skeletal muscle regeneration due to their soft elastic properties and porous architecture. However, the complex triple helix conformation of collagen and environmental conditions, i.e.…
Microgels are soft colloidal particles constituted by cross-linked polymer networks with a high potential for applications. In particular, after adsorption at a fluid interface, interfacial tension provides two-dimensional (2D) confinement…
Technologically useful and robust graphene-based interfaces for devices require the introduction of highly selective, stable, and covalently bonded functionalities on the graphene surface, whilst essentially retaining the electronic…
We report on the delamination of thin ($\approx \mu$m) hydrogel films grafted to silicon substrates under the action of swelling stresses. Poly(dimetylacrylamide) (PDMA) films are synthesized by simultaneously cross-linking and grafting…
Nature has exhibited numerous soft-interactive botanical or zoological systems with self-adaptivenss or reconfigurable shape, however, artificial micro/nano materials of same merit are formidable due to material/structural limitations,…
We present here a novel resist formulation with active thiol groups at the surface. The material is UV curable, and can be patterned at the micro- and nanoscale by UV nanoimprint lithography. The resist formulation development, its…
Thin films and van der Waals heterostructures derived from two-dimensional solids offer enormous potential for a broad range of novel, energy efficient devices, however, their use is currently hampered by slow, labor-intensive fabrication…
Investigations of free-standing liquid films enjoy an increasing popularity due to their relevance for many fundamental and applied scientific problems. They constitute soap bubbles and foams, serve as membranes for gas transport or as…
Synthesis of rationally designed nanostructured materials with optimized mechanical properties, e.g., high strength with considerable ductility, requires rigorous control of diverse microstructural parameters including the mean size, size…
Hydrogel consists of a crosslinked polymer matrix imbibed with a solvent such as water at volume fractions that can exceed 90\%. They are important in many scientific and engineering applications due to their tunable physiochemical…
Catch bonds are interactions whose lifetimes increase under mechanical load, a counterintuitive behaviour that underlies diverse biological processes. Translating this mechanism to synthetic materials offers the potential to create systems…
Crystalline films offer various physical properties based on the modulation of their thicknesses and atomic structures. The layer-by-layer assembly of atomically thin crystals provides powerful means to arbitrarily design films at the…
The design of photo-active collagen systems is presented as a basis for establishing biomimetic materials with varied network architecture and programmable macroscopic properties. Following in-house isolation of type I collagen, reaction…
Direct, tunable coupling between individually assembled graphene layers is a next step towards designer two-dimensional (2D) crystal systems, with relevance for fundamental studies and technological applications. Here we describe the…
Hypothesis: Slippery Omniphobic Covalently Attached Liquids (SOCAL) have been proposed for making omnirepellent thin films of self-assembled dimethylsiloxane polymer brushes grafted from silica surfaces. Smooth and flat at very small scale,…
Polymer gels with photo-responsive cross-links enable tunable mechanics and surface morphologies, making them promising for adaptive materials. While prior work on coumarin cross-linked gels has focused on photo-mediated events in dilute…
Hydrogel coatings absorb water vapor - or other solvents - and, as such, are good candidates for antifog applications. In the present study, the transfer of vapor from the atmosphere to hydrogel thin films is measured in a situation where…