New Silver-based Nanoparticle Ink Could Lead To Better Flexible Printed Electronics

February 21, 2009

A new ink developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows them to write their own silver linings.

The ink, composed of silver nanoparticles, can be used in electronic and optoelectronic applications to create flexible, stretchable and spanning microelectrodes that carry signals from one circuit element to another. The printed microelectrodes can withstand repeated bending and stretching with minimal change in their electrical properties. More...

Materials Science: Solar Cells Go Round the Bend

October 8, 2008

Flexible printed electronics and solar-cell arrays promise to be cheaper and more versatile than their rigid counterparts. But their components still need to be linked by tiny metal electrodes in order to get electrons flowing through a device. A new silver-nanoparticle ink could be just the thing for printing high-performance electrical connections for flexible devices. More...

A New Flexibility With Thin Solar Cells

October 6, 2008

Photovoltaic cells, the basic building blocks of solar panels, are more efficient and less costly than ever. But manipulating cells (which are usually made of semiconductor materials) and incorporating them into different panel designs is not necessarily easy. More...

SciAm 50 - Material World

December 16, 2007

Cut your finger, and your body starts mending the wound even before you have had time to go and find a Band-Aid. Synthetic materials are not so forgiving, but Nancy R. Sottos, Scott R. White and their colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are looking to change all that. They developed a self-healing plastic that contains a three-dimensional network of microscopic capillaries filled with a liquid healing agent. When the material is cracked, the released fluid is hardened by particles of a catalyst that are also sprinkled through-out. The new material can repair...

Sol-Gel Inks Produce Complex Shapes with Nanoscale Features

October 14, 2007

New sol-gel inks developed by researchers at the University of Illinois can be printed into patterns to producage three-dimensional structures of metal oxides with nanoscale features. More...

Also featured in Innovations Report.

New Composite Material Built to Repair Itself, Much Like Human Skin

June 19, 2007

June 19, 2007 -- Creation of polymer composites that can seal tiny cracks as they appear has long been a goal of chemists and engineers. Such materials could be useful in airplane wings, for example, which can develop cracks under the stress of flight. Scientists at Illinois are reporting progress toward that goal. More...

Germanium Inverse Woodpile Structure with a Large Photonic Band Gap

May 21, 2007

May 21, 2007 -- Paul Braun, a University Scholar and a professor of materials science and engineering, and Jennifer Lewis, the Thurnauer Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and interim director of the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, have created a germanium inverse woodpile structure that has one of the widest photonic band gaps ever reported. More...

Also featured in:
nanotechwire.com
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Lab on a Chip

May 31, 2005

Our work in direct-write assembly of microfluidic channels was featured in the Royal Society of Chemistry's journal, Lab on a Chip (Volume 5, Number 6, June 2005). The article highlighted the innovative fabrication process of microfluidic channels using a fugitive inks.

Air Force Research Laboratory's Technology Horizons cover article: Funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, a team of scientists developed a technique to fabricate three-dimensional microvascular networks embedded in epoxy. These miniscule networks could have many uses as compact fluidic elements...

Science & Vie

December 31, 2004

The French magazine Science & Vie highlighted our work as a nanoscience image of the year, in their 2004 year-in-review issue.

Organic Ink Helps Scientists 'Write' Tiny Fluid Factories

March 24, 2003

March 24, 2003 -- Researchers have developed a new method of "writing" tiny mazes of pipes in millimeter-size devices. Using special ink, they have successfully manufactured three-dimensional networks of channels that can be used to mix microscopic streams of fluid. The findings, published online today by the journal Nature Materials, could aid in the development of new biosensors or improved "labs-on-chips." More...

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