CH – Page 5 – TechConnect Briefs

Nanoscale Silver Coatings on Synthetic Fibers

Amberg M., Körner E., Hegemann D., Heuberger M., Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, CH

In this work, we present two different low-pressure plasma processes that are used to obtain nanoscale coatings on the special geometry of fibers. A 100-200nm thick smooth silver coating is produced and its electromechanical as [...]

Wafer Level Assembly of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube (SWCNT) Arrays with Precise Positioning

Cao J., Arun A., Lister K., Acquaviva D., Bhandari J., Ionescu A.M., Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH

A novel wafer level assembly method to fabricate SWCNT arrays with precise positioning of each individual SWCNT by ac-dielectrophoresis (DEP) is presented. Unlike the previous CNT assembly performed directly between electrode pairs, in this work, [...]

Waste water is gold under our feet

Studer U., Rabtherm AG, CH

Each winter, we can see the heat, warm air, coming up the sewer shafts in city streets and we should realize the enormous heat potential that is down there and just flows away, untapped and [...]

Rapid Synthesis of Anti-Fogging Coatings

Tricoli A., Righettoni M., Pratsinis S.E., Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, CH

The wetting properties of surfaces are fundamental properties greatly influencing their interaction with the environment. Self-cleaning, bacteria-resistant, and anti-fogging surfaces are feasible by depositing either super-hydrophobic or super-hydrophilic coatings and will have great impact on [...]

Waste water is gold under our feet

Studer U., Rabtherm AG, CH

Each winter, we can see the heat, warm air, coming up the sewer shafts in city streets and we should realize the enormous heat potential that is down there and just flows away, untapped and [...]

Antibacterial activity of flame-made Ag/SiO2 nanoparticles

Sotiriou G.A., Camenzind A., Meyer A., Panke S., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

The synthesis of flame made Ag/SiO2 nanoparticles was achieved by flame spray pyrolysis. The precursor selection influence on the final product was studied. The produced powders were characterized by TEM/STEM, XRD, BET, UV/vis. Additionally, the [...]

Understanding the formation and adsorption of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional protein aggregates on a solid surface

Rabe M., Verdes D., Seeger S., University of Zurich, CH

We have comprehensively investigated the structure of protein assemblies that form spontaneously upon protein adsorption on solid interfaces using a surface sensitive fluorescence imaging technique. It was found that proteins usually do not cover surfaces [...]

Exposure modeling of engineered nanoparticle

Som C., Mueller N.C., Sonderer T., Gottschalk F., Scholz R., Nowack B., Empa Materials Science and Technology, CH

An elementary step towards a quantitative assessment of the risks of new compounds to the environment is to calculate their predicted environmental concentrations (PEC). The aim of this study was to use a life-cycle perspective [...]

Silica-coated Ag nanoparticles by scalable flame technology

Sotiriou G.A., Camenzind A., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Silica coated silver nanoparticles have been synthesized in one step, by using flame spray pyrolysis. By controlling the production parameters, different sizes and different coating thicknesses were achieved. The particles were characterized with TEM/STEM, EDX [...]

Flame Synthesis and Coating of Nanostructured Particles in One Step

Teleki A., Buesser B., Heine M., Krumeich F., Akhtar M.K., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Coating of flame-made nanostructured particles has been achieved in one step by a scalable aerosol process. Rutile TiO2 particles made by flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) were coated in a single step with SiO2 layers in [...]