CH – Page 8 – TechConnect Briefs

Two-nozzle flame synthesis of Pt/Ba/Al2O3 for NOx storage

Büchel R., Strobel R., Pratsinis S.E., Baiker A., ETH Zürich, CH

A novel two-nozzle flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) process is presented for one-step preparation of Pt/Ba/Al2O3 particles for NOx storage-reduction (NSR) catalysts. These storage catalysts are of particular interest for mobile engines operating under lean conditions [...]

3D Nanostructured Silicon Relying on Hard Mask Engineering for High Temperature Annealing (HME-HTA) Processes for Electronic Devices

Bopp M., Coronel P., Judong F., Jouannic K., Talbot A., Ristoiu D., Pribat C., Bardos N., Pico F., Samson M.P., Dainesi P., Ionescu A.M., Skotnicki T., Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH

Annealing silicon at high temperatures in hydrogen ambiance has been reported to induce surface diffusion of silicon; in these conditions, adapted 2D arrays of trenches etched in Bulk Si are transformed into buried cavities creating [...]

Precision Placement and Integration of Individual Carbon Nanotubes in Nanodevices by Fountain-Pen controlled Dielectrophoresis

Schwamb T., Schirmer N., Poulikakos D., ETH Zürich, CH

Herein, we present a novel fabrication method for the integration of special nanoparticles such as nanowires and carbon nanotubes into NEMS/MEMS. To this end, we combined the dielectrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotubes with a fountain-pen [...]

Micropatterning Layers by Flame Aerosol Deposition – Annealing

Tricoli A., Graf M., Mayer F., Kühne S., Hierlemann A., Pratsinis S.E., PTL, CH

The development of scalable methods, which effectively bind nanoparticles to surfaces and provide precise patterns, is a key step towards the commercial exploitation of the distinctive properties of nanoparticles. In this context, the direct deposition [...]

Surface Nanostructuration: from coatings to MEMS fabrication

Pugin R., Blondiaux N., Popa A.M., Klein M., Montagne F., Scolan E., Hoogerwerf A., Overstolz T., Liley M., Giazzon M., Weder G., Heinzelmann H., Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de microtechnique, CH

The fabrication of surfaces and films with controlled nanometer features is currently an active area of research. The design of complex nanoarchitectures with novel physical properties has potential applications in many existing and emerging fields [...]

Generalized model for the aggregation rate of colloidal nanoparticles and clusters induced by shear in the presence of repulsive interactions

Lattuada M., Morbidelli M., ETH Zürich, CH

Coagulation of colloidal nanoparticles in the presence of shear is a key step in processing of many particulate materials, polymeric nanoparticles, food products etc. In the case of charged nanoparticles, coagulation is usually carried out [...]

Magnetic nanoparticles with variable size and shape and surface functionality as switchable building blocks for soft nanotechnology

Dietsch H., Malik V., Reufer M., Schurtenberger P., Fribourg Center fro Nanomaterials, FriMat, CH

Alpha-Fe2O3 (hematite) particles can be synthesized by forced hydrolysis of iron salts. The chosen iron salt dissolves and leads to a first crystalline structure called akaganeite (Beta-FeOOH), which, reorganized and combined with more iron precursor [...]

One-Step Flame-Synthesis of Carbon-Embedded and -Supported Platinum Clusters

Ernst F.O., Büchel R., Strobel R., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Carbon-embedded or -supported Pt-clusters were made by a scalable, single-step flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) process. Pt-containing precursors was dissolved in xylene and sprayed and combusted in a controlled oxidation atmosphere resulting in nanostructured, carbon-embedded Pt-clusters. [...]

Synthesis of visible light active nanocrystalline bismuth oxide based photocatalysts

Akurati K.K., Vital A., Reifler F., Ritter A., Graule T., Swiss federal laboratories for materials science & technology, EMPA, CH

Photocatalysis phenomenon has attracted considerable interest in recent years because of its usage in water purification, environmental cleaning, solar energy conversion and generation of alternative energy resources. To date, TiO2 has undoubtedly proven to be [...]

From Particle Self-Assembly to the Creation of Biologically Relevant Nanopatterns

Blättler T.M., Binkert A., Reimhult E., Textor M., Vörös J., ETH Zürich, CH

Nanopatterns are becoming increasingly popular in the field of bioscience and bioengineering because they provide novel tools to address biological problems. For example, protein nanoarrays not only enable molecular level statistics of binding events but [...]