Related papers: Freezing as a path to build complex composites
The recent development of nanoscale fillers, such as carbon nanotube, graphene, and nanocellulose, allows the functionality of polymer nanocomposites to be controlled and enhanced. However, conventional synthesis methods of polymer…
Nature has engineered complex designs to achieve advanced properties and functionalities through evolution, over millions of years. Many organisms have adapted to their living environment producing extremely efficient materials and…
One of the greatest difficulties that space exploration faces is the lack of technology necessary to establish large volumes of habitable spaces on site. Both transporting the pre-built enclosures or transporting the equipment necessary for…
Various metallic structures of complex shape, resembling natural objects such as plants, mushrooms, and seashells, were produced when growing nanowires by means of pulsed current electroplating in porous membranes. These structures occur as…
Modern optical systems are subject to very restrictive performance, size and cost requirements. Especially in portable systems size often is the most important factor, which necessitates elaborate designs to achieve the desired…
Soft constituent materials endow biological composites, such as bone, dentin and nacre, with viscoelastic properties that may play an important role in their remarkable fracture resistance. In this paper we calculate the scaling properties…
Spatial ordering of matter elicits exotic properties sometimes absent from a material's constituents. A few highly mineralised natural materials achieve high toughness through delocalised damage, whereas synthetic particulate composites…
Extrusion 3D-printing of biopolymers and natural fiber-based biocomposites allows for the fabrication of complex structures, ranging from gels for healthcare applications to eco-friendly structural materials. However, traditional polymer…
We use large scale ab-initio calculations to describe electronic structures of graphene, graphene nanoribbons, and carbon nanotubes periodically perforated with nanopores. We disclose common features of these systems and develop a unified…
Here, we propose an easy and robust strategy for the versatile preparation of hybrid plasmonic nanopores by means of controlled deposition of single flakes of MoS2 directly on top of metallic holes. The device is realized on silicon nitride…
Solid-state nanopores offer a powerful platform for nanoscale analysis of individual analytes, including biomolecules and functionalized nanoparticles, by confining them within a precisely defined sensing region. However, their inherently…
Deployable structures, essential across various engineering applications ranging from umbrellas to satellites, are evolving to include soft, morphable designs where geometry drives transformation. However, a major challenge for soft…
Surface plasmon resonances of metallic nanostructures offer great opportunities to guide and manipulate light on the nanoscale. In the design of novel plasmonic devices, a central topic is to clarify the intricate relationship between the…
Throughout the evolution of biological species on Earth, cells and organs have developed many complex structures and processes to ensure their interactions with individual chemical molecules (small and macromolecular) and nanoscale objects…
Controlling anisotropy in self-assembled structures enables engineering of materials with highly directional response. Here, we harness the anisotropic growth of ice walls in a thermal gradient to assemble an anisotropic refractory metal…
Many biological materials exhibit a multiscale porosity with small, mostly nanoscale pores as well as large, macroscopic capillaries to simultaneously achieve optimized mass transport capabilities and lightweight structures with large inner…
Freeze-casting, the templating of porous structure by the solidification of a solvent, have seen a great deal of efforts during the last few years. Of particular interest are the unique structure and properties exhibited by porous…
The past decade has witnessed the rapid progress in synthesizing nanoporous organic networks or polymer frameworks for various potential applications. Generally speaking, functionalization of porous networks to add extra properties and…
We have used soft x-ray photoemission electron microscopy to image the magnetization of single domain La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ nano-islands arranged in geometrically frustrated configurations such as square ice and kagome ice…
It is shown that porous spherical particles can be obtained via the freezing of silica nanoparticle aqueous suspensions emulsified in a continuous oil phase. After two freeze-thaw cycles, nanoparticles turn aggregated into flocculated…