1 year ago
98 Patterns of microscopic discs, rings oregon letters tin beryllium added to microrobots oregon stretchy electronics with a dissolved sweetener mixture
Physics 24 November 2022Grains of pollen that person had microscopic discs deposited onto them with a candy-like substance Gary Zabow/National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
A sweetener substance akin to hard candy studded with tiny metallic discs oregon rings has been utilized to deposit patterns onto microscopic objects. This method of creating texture connected tiny objects could beryllium utile for biomedical robots oregon flexible electronics.
To springiness microscopic robots oregon tiny physics circuits much functionality, researchers often embellish their surfaces with patterns of adjacent tinier objects, specified arsenic magnets. They often marque these components connected a flat, cleanable aboveground and past stamp them onto the bigger object.
But accurately applying them successful this mode becomes hard erstwhile the receiving objects are not smooth, says Gary Zabow astatine the National Institute of Standards and Technology successful Colorado. He worked retired however to usage sweetener and maize syrup to adhd micropatterns to adjacent the astir irregular and jagged objects.
He archetypal arranged micron-sized discs and rings of metallic oregon platinum into a pattern, specified arsenic an array oregon a letter, and past poured a lukewarm substance of sweetener and maize syrup implicit it. Adding maize prevents the sweetener from crystallising and disrupting the pattern. The components got stuck successful the substance arsenic it solidified into thing akin to hard candy. Zabow past enactment this hardened substance connected the entity helium wanted to signifier and re-heated it, truthful it dispersed and wrapped astir the entity beneath it – similar a Jolly Rancher hard candy melting successful the sun. Finally, helium dissolved the sweetener substance with water, and lone the components that were stuck wrong it remained connected the object’s surface.
False-colour representation of letters made of golden that were transferred onto a strand of hair Gary Zabow/NIST
Zabow tested the method connected objects ranging from micron-sized metallic cubes and solid beads to grains of pollen, idiosyncratic hairs and reddish humor cells. He says that due to the fact that sweetener is not toxic, this method could perchance beryllium utilized for manufacturing microrobots and nanoparticles that participate the quality assemblage successful biomedicine.
Cunjiang Yu astatine Pennsylvania State University says that the method works amended than galore existing techniques for patterning precise tiny objects. It could beryllium a bully lucifer for making flexible electronics that tin beryllium integrated into biologic tissues oregon wearables, among galore different applications, helium says.
This benignant of micropatterning is inactive successful its infancy, and Zabow wants different researchers to effort it out. “I anticipation that different radical volition deliberation of things that I haven’t yet thought to try. It seems to beryllium reasonably casual to experimentation further – you conscionable instrumentality a Jolly Rancher candy, and it works,” helium says.
Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.add7023
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