PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Filmmaking magic with polymers

Researchers engineer breakthroughs in copolymer block thin film production

2013-06-12
(Press-News.org) Think about windows coated with transparent film that absorbs harmful ultraviolet sunrays and uses them to generate electricity. Consider a water filtration membrane that blocks viruses and other microorganisms from water, or an electric car battery that incorporates a coating to give it extra long life between charges.

The self-assembled copolymer block film that makes it all possible is now being fabricated with intricately organized nanostructures, giving them multiple functions and flexibility on a macroscale level never before seen. Gupreet Singh, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Akron College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, led a team of researchers to devise a method that enables the films to assemble themselves and allows them to serve as templates or directly as end products. The films can be embedded with nanoparticles that enable everything from data storage to water purification.

Superimposed with nanopatterns that allow them to be implanted with a variety of functions — electronic, thermal or chemical — the films can be produced at an industrial level, which is no small feat in the world of science, says research team member Alamgir Karim, associate dean of research for the UA College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering and Goodyear Chair Professor of Polymer Engineering. Other research collaborators include Kevin Yager of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., Brian Berry of the University of Arkansas and Ho-Cheol Kim of the IBM Research Division of Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif.

"We have moved films manufacturing from microns to meter scale, opening pathways from the lab to fabrication," Karim says. "Fundamentally, it allows us to practice nanoscience on a large scale. We can now produce these films quickly and inexpensively, yet with precision and without compromising quality."

Created with speed and uniformity, compatible with flexible surfaces, and subjected to temperature extremes, the copolymer thin films — developed at the National Polymer Innovation Center at UA — are noted in two recent American Chemical Society Nano journal articles "Dynamic Thermal Field-Induced Gradient Soft-Shear for Highly Oriented Block Copolymer Thin Films" http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn304266f?prevSearch=Gurpreet%2BSingh%252C%2BAlamgir%2BKarim&searchHistoryKey= and "Large-Scale Roll-to-Roll Fabrication of Vertically Oriented Block Copolymer Thin Films" http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn401094s?prevSearch=Gurpreet%2BSingh%252C%2BAlamgir%2BKarim&searchHistoryKey=.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the research represents a market-ready revival of a technology developed by Bell Laboratories in the 1950s for metal and semiconductor purification and adapted in the 1980s for polymer crystallization. Since then, the technology remained dormant, until now.

"We revived the technology and made it scalable, opening opportunities for full-scale manufacturing," Karim says, noting that IBM has expressed interest in continuing the research and development of the technology and is exploring applications ranging from membranes for batteries to high-density magnetic tape storage.

"The process should be of interest to a broad range of industries — from high-tech to low-tech — worldwide," Karim adds. "Manufacturing of these nanostructures can be done on industrial platforms such as UA's roll-to-roll manufacturing (developed by collaborator Distinguished Professor of Polymer Engineering Miko Cakmak) at relatively high speeds not possible previously."



INFORMATION:

About The University of Akron

The University of Akron offers more than 300 associate, bachelor's, master's, doctorate and law degree programs – with accreditations by 35 professional agencies. With nearly 30,000 students and $65 million in research expenditures, UA is among the nation's strongest public universities focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment in community and economic growth. Programs are targeted to diverse groups of learners, including full-time, part-time and online students, veterans and adults returning to the classroom. The distinctive Akron Experience enhances postgraduate success through internships and co-ops, academic research (both undergraduate and graduate), study abroad, on-campus student employment and service projects.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Lab experiments question effectiveness of green coffee bean weight-loss supplements

2013-06-12
A major ingredient in those green coffee bean dietary supplements — often touted as "miracle" weight-loss products — doesn't prevent weight gain in obese laboratory mice fed a high-fat diet when given at higher doses. That's the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind study published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. It also linked the ingredient to an unhealthy build-up of fat in the liver. Vance Matthews, Kevin Croft and their team note that coffee is rich in healthful, natural, plant-based polyphenol substances. They cite evidence from past studies that ...

Differences in outcomes of cervical spine surgery at teaching versus non-teaching hospitals

2013-06-12
Philadelphia, Pa. (June 12, 2013) - For patients undergoing surgery on the cervical (upper) spine, overall rates of complications and death are higher at teaching hospitals than at non-teaching hospitals, reports a study in the June 1 issue of Spine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. But the differences are small and are likely explained by the more-complex surgeries performed and higher-risk patients treated at teaching hospitals, according to the report by Dr Kern Singh of Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, ...

Papaya-clay combo could cut cost of water purification in developing countries

2013-06-12
An inexpensive new material made of clay and papaya seeds removes harmful metals from water and could lower the cost of providing clean water to millions of people in the developing world, scientists are reporting. Their study on this "hybrid clay" appears in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Emmanuel Unuabonah and colleagues explain that almost 1 billion people in developing countries lack access to reliable supplies of clean water for drinking, cooking and other key uses. One health problem resulting from that shortage involves exposure to heavy metals ...

The secrets of another Japanese success story

2013-06-12
Japanese manufacturers have practically cornered the world market on components for lithium-ion batteries, films for LCDs and other advanced materials — with almost no competition from abroad. The secrets to their success are the topic of the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN). C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Correspondent Jean-François Tremblay explains in the article that the success of advanced materials manufacturers stands in sharp contrast ...

Geographic Information Systems aid health research in developed and developing countries

2013-06-12
TAMPA, Fla. (June 12, 2013) – The current special issue of Technology and Innovation - Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors®, is devoted to public health research using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to help provide beneficial data for public health researchers focusing on health risks and food access in rural Alaska; racial disparities in health care and resources in Fort Worth, Texas; and pathways for health care development in remote areas of Nepal. GIS describes a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage and present geographical ...

Obstructive sleep apnea raises risk of sudden cardiac death, Mayo Clinic finds

2013-06-12
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- People who have obstructive sleep apnea -- when a person stops breathing for periods during sleep -- have a greater risk of sudden cardiac death, according to a study published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. An estimated 12 million American adults have obstructive sleep apnea, and many of them are undiagnosed, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). In the study, funded by the NHLBI, 10,701 people who participated in sleep studies were followed for an average of 5.3 years for incidence ...

Cultural products have evolutionary roots

2013-06-12
This news release is available in French. Montreal, June 12, 2013 – From Brad Pitt fighting zombies to Superman falling for Lois Lane, summer blockbuster season is upon us. But while Hollywood keeps trotting out new movies for the masses, plotlines barely change. Epic battles, whirlwind romances, family feuds, heroic attempts to save the lives of strangers: these are stories guaranteed to grace the silver screen. According to new research from Concordia University, that's not lazy scriptwriting, that's evolutionary consumerism. Marketing professor Gad Saad says ...

Researchers identify a new mechanism of TB drug resistance

2013-06-12
Pyrazinamide (PZA)—a frontline tuberculosis (TB) drug—kills dormant persister bacteria and plays a critical role in shortening TB therapy. PZA is used for treating both drug susceptible and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) but resistance to PZA occurs frequently and can compromise treatment. A recent study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, has identified a new mechanism for PZA-resistance, which provides new insight into the how this mysterious drug works. The study is available online June ...

Public health's role in health care reform -- Lessons from Massachusetts

2013-06-12
Philadelphia, Pa. (June 12, 2013) – How will full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affect the work and goals of state and local public health departments—and how can public health personnel contribute to the success of health care reform? The experience in Massachusetts has some important lessons, according to an article published online by the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. The journal is published by LWW is part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Just as Massachusetts was implementing its ground-breaking health care reform legislation, John ...

People anticipate others' genuine smiles, but not polite smiles

2013-06-12
Smile and the world smiles with you — but new research suggests that not all smiles are created equal. The research shows that people actually anticipate smiles that are genuine but not smiles that are merely polite. The differing responses may reflect the unique social value of genuine smiles. "These findings give us the first clear suggestion that the basic processes that guide responses to reward also play a role in guiding social behavior on a moment-to-moment basis during interactions," explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Erin Heerey of Bangor University ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study identifies candidates for therapeutic targets in pediatric germ cell tumors

Media alert: The global burden of CVD

Study illuminates contributing factors to blood vessel leakage

What nations around the world can learn from Ukraine

Mixing tree species does not always make forests more drought-resilient

Public confidence in U.S. health agencies slides, fueled by declines among Democrats

“Quantum squeezing” a nanoscale particle for the first time

El Niño spurs extreme daily rain events despite drier monsoons in India

Two studies explore the genomic diversity of deadly mosquito vectors

Zebra finches categorize their vocal calls by meaning

Analysis challenges conventional wisdom about partisan support for US science funding

New model can accurately predict a forest’s future

‘Like talking on the telephone’: Quantum computing engineers get atoms chatting long distance

Genomic evolution of major malaria-transmitting mosquito species uncovered

Overcoming the barriers of hydrogen storage with a low-temperature hydrogen battery

Tuberculosis vulnerability of people with HIV: a viral protein implicated

Partnership with Kenya's Turkana community helps scientists discover genes involved in adaptation to desert living

Decoding the selfish gene, from evolutionary cheaters to disease control

Major review highlights latest evidence on real-time test for blood – clotting in childbirth emergencies

Inspired by bacteria’s defense strategies

Research spotlight: Combination therapy shows promise for overcoming treatment resistance in glioblastoma

University of Houston co-leads $25 million NIH-funded grant to study the delay of nearsightedness in children

NRG Oncology PREDICT-RT study completes patient accrual, tests individualized concurrent therapy and radiation for high-risk prostate cancer

Taking aim at nearsightedness in kids before it’s diagnosed

With no prior training, dogs can infer how similar types of toys work, even when they don’t look alike

Three deadliest risk factors of a common liver disease identified in new study

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

Palaeontology: South American amber deposit ‘abuzz’ with ancient insects

Oral microbes linked to increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition

[Press-News.org] Filmmaking magic with polymers
Researchers engineer breakthroughs in copolymer block thin film production