Congratulations to MCN Technology Fellow, Professor Saulius Juodkazis and MCN staff member, Gediminas Gervinskas, who co-authored the paper entitled “Phase Transformation in Laser-Induced Micro-Explosion in Olivine (Fe,Mg)2SiO4,” recently published in Advanced Engineering Materials. The paper explores micro-explosions generated by tightly focused single pulses of a femtosecond laser in olivine, showing that they produce change of iron valence state. Chemical and structural changes were investigated using synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy and Raman scattering. This study confirms that this mechanism may present a general pathway towards the creation of novel crystalline and amorphous nano-materials. (see figure 1) 

Congratulations to MCN staff member, Dr. Ricky Tjeung, as well as MCN Technology Fellows, Professor James Friend and Dr. Peggy Chan who co-authored the paper “In Situ Generation of Tunable Porosity Gradients in Hydrogel-Based Scaffolds for Microfluidic Cell Culture,” recently published in Advanced Materials. The paper shows that an anisotropic matrix, which allows users to alter its properties and structure in situ after synthesis, offers the important advantage of being able to mimic dynamic in vivo microenvironments, such as in tissues undergoing morphogenesis or in wounds undergoing tissue repair. In this study, in situ tunable porosity gradient on the chemotactic response of cancer cells is studied both in the absence and presence of chemoattractant. This platform illustrates the potential of hydrogel-based microfluidics to mimic the 3D in vivo microenvironment for tissue engineering and diagnostic applications. (see figure 2) 

Congratulations to Didit Yudistira et al who recently published “UV Direct Write Metal Enhanced Redox (MER) Domain Engineering for Realization of Surface Acoustic Devices on Lithium Niobate” in Advanced Materials. The paper looks at a new and highly versatile domain patterning method—ultraviolet direct write metal enhanced redox (UV direct write MER)— to achieve deep domains with practically no thermally-induced damage on the surface of lithium niobate crystals. This new technique enables the fabrication of practical piezoelectric acoustic superlattice structures on the most widely used crystal cut for surface acoustic wave applications. This is the first demonstration of a UV direct write surface acoustic wave transducer reported to date, made possible only due to the unique qualities of the MER domain engineering process. (see figure 3) 

Congratulations to Daohong Zhang et al who recently published the paper entitled “Core-Spun Carbon Nanotube Yarn Supercapacitors for Wearable Electronic Textiles,” in ACS Nano. The paper presents a core/sheath structured carbon nanotube yarn architecture and a method for one-step continuous spinning of the yarn for the creation of long linear supercapacitors. In the yarn, the carbon nanotubes form a thin surface layer around a highly conductive metal filament core, which serves as current collector so that charges produced on the active materials along the length of the supercapacitor are transported efficiently, resulting in significant improvement in electrochemical performance and scale up of the supercapacitor length. The long, strong, and flexible threadlike supercapacitor is suitable for production of large-size fabrics for wearable electronic applications. (see figure 4) 

Congratultions to Jiaweng Yong et al for their paper, “Gold-Nanorod-Assisted Near-Infrared Stimulation of Primary Auditory Neurons,” recently published in Advanced Healthcare Materials. This paper explores the use of near infrared lasers to stimulate neuronal tissue due to its potential for direct, non-contact activation at high spatial resolutions. Cultured rat primary auditory neurons incubated with silica-coated gold nanorods were investigated with near infrared lasers. The nanorod-treated auditory neurons show a significant increase in electrical activity compared with neurons which are incubated with non-absorbing silica-coated gold nanospheres and control neurons with no gold nanoparticles. This demonstrate the potential to improve the efficiency and increase the penetration depth of Inelastic neutron scattering by labeling nerves with gold nanorods and then exposing them to infrared wavelengths in the water window of tissue. (see figure 5) 

Congratulations to MCN Technology Fellow, Dr. Peggy Chan who co-authored the paper, “Cardiogenesis of Embryonic Stem Cells with Liquid Marble Micro-Bioreactor,” published in Advanced Healthcare Materials. The paper looks, for the first time, at the feasibility of differentiating embryonic stem cells into cardiac lineages within liquid marbles. Results highlighted demonstrate that the liquid-marble technique is an easily employed, cost effective, and efficient approach to generate embryoid bodies and facilitate their cardiogenesis. (see figure 6) 

Congratulations to MCN Technology Fellow, Assoc Professor Wenlong Cheng who co-authored the paper entitled, “Manufacturable Conducting Rubber Ambers and Stretchable Conductors from Copper Nanowire Aerogel Monoliths,” recently published in ACS Nano. The paper reports on a low-cost, simple and efficient strategy to fabricate ultralightweight aerogel monoliths and conducting rubber ambers from copper nanowires. A trace amount of polyvinyl alcohol substantially improved the mechanical robustness and elasticity of the copper nanowire aerogel while maintaining a high electrical conductivity. Remarkably, the copper nanowire aerogels could be further embedded into PDMS resin, forming conducting rubber ambers. The ambers could be further manufactured simply by cutting into any arbitrary 1D, 2D, and 3D shapes, which were all intrinsically conductive without the need of external prewiring, a condition required in the previous aerogel-based conductors. (see figure 7) 

The recent installment of the Kleindiek Lift-Out Shuttle on the MCN Dual Beam Focused Ion Beam Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB-SEM) has helped VahidReza Adineh, a Monash University PhD student, to achieve what was not possible with several months of work using the standard 3‐axis micromanipulator.

VahidReza was aiming to take a thin slice of a mouse whisker and place it cut-side down on a silicon wafer so that he could then utilise the Atomic Force Microscope to perform characterisation on the sample. However, with the regular micromanipulator probe installed in the FIB-SEM, it was almost impossible to place the whisker segment cut-side down on the wafer. After several months of trying different section lengths, placing methods and needle placement, VahidReza had not been able to successfully gain the sample needed for imaging.

With the installment of the Kleindiek Nanotechnik Lift-Out Shuttle, the sample was able to be prepared within just a few hours. The microgripper was used to gently grip the sample while it was removed from the whisker, after which it controlled the placement of the whisker segment on the wafer and secured it with the deposition of platinum patches.

The Lift-Out Shuttle allows users heightened control of their samples in situ and is consistently reliable and efficient in manipulating very small objects, saving users time and money. For more information on how you can make the most of this capability, please contact Fatima Eftekahri.

To assist cleanroom users with faster Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) characterisation, a tabletop SEM has recently been installed within the Class 10,000 cleanroom space. The Hitachi TM3030 SEM with Oxford EDX is capable of performing high-resolution characterization without sample preparation and provides flexibility and convenience without sacrificing resolution or quality.

The tabletop SEM can hold a 70mm sample and can achieve up to 30,000x magnification. The Oxford EDX allows Linescan, Mapping and Multiple Point Analysis as well as Light Element Detection from Boron upwards.

The Tabletop SEM is just another way the MCN is aiming to streamline user workflows and minimize instrument wait time. If you are interested in more information on the new SEM, please contact mcn-enquiries@nanomelbourne.com.

Visiting world experts in plasmonics, Professor Harold Giessen and Dr Laura Na Liu recently enlightened audiences at MCN.

Chair of Ultrafast Nanooptics in the Department of Physics at the University of Stuttgart, Prof. Harald Giessen discussed complex plasmonics, taking a look at the fundamentals before discussing their possible applications. Plasmonics is the technology based on electrical resonances excited by light on metal nano particles that enables the properties of light to be manipulated at the nano scale.

Prof. Giessen touched on chirality with a plasmonic model system, before discussing non-reciprocal plasmonics for controlling the polarization of light, known as the Faraday Rotation. He finished by presenting a number of novel sensing applications, ranging from 3D rulers for measuring displacements of molecules to novel plasmonic gas and liquid sensors.

A group leader at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and recipient of the prestigious Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, Dr. Laura Na Liu shared her work on three dimensional DNA plasmonics. She discussed the control of complex arrangements of 3D plasmonic structures using DNA self-assembly or DNA origami. Due to the intrinsic programmability and excellent functionalities of DNA, the plasmonic nanomachine can respond to external stimulus upon recognition of biochemical events or stimulated movements of the DNA template. These 'smart' plasmonic nanostructures can be used as sensors for biological systems to help answer questions of structural biology.

The talks by Prof. Giessen and Dr. Liu were organized by MCN Technology Fellows, Tim Davis and Daniel Gomez from CSIRO.

The MCN wishes to congratulate Dr. Florian Lapierre for his winning image in last year’s Image of the Year Competition, PolyHIPE. Reminiscent of a lunar landscape, Florian’s image shows a highly porous polymer bead, which was generated using an easy-to-manufacture microfluidic device and cross-linked under UV irradiation.

This PolyHIPE material with 80% porosity shows potential for use in a range of applications including tissue engineering, 3D cell culturing, bio-catalysis and hydrogen storage.

Dr Florian Lapierre is a Postdoctoral Fellow at CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering under the supervision of Drs Yonggang Zhu, Thomas Peat and John Oakeshott. The work was completed in collaboration with Prof. Neil Cameron from Durham University, UK.

A big thank you to all participants for their many wonderful entries.

The start of February saw MCN and ANFF attend the International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechology (ICONN). Held concurrently with the 23rd Australian Conference on Microscopy and Microanalysis, the conference attracted a large number of delegates interested in microbiology and nanocharacterization.

The ANFF booth was alive with discussion and activity with lunchtime demonstrations in microfluidics, 3D printing and a versatile enhanced surface plasmon resonance sensor based on optical fibres. MCN Process Engineer, Lachlan Hyde ran an A-maze-ing race competition which saw competitors race an oversize maze puzzle to take first place on the leaderboard. Congratulations to Nima Dehdashti, Nicholas Tse and Melanie Ramiasa – the three lucky winners who took away a bottle of award winning South Australian wine for their speedy times, and thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth!