A Method for the Production of Nanoscale Porous Structures Using Laser Irradiation
Summary
Materials with nanometer sized pores, often referred to as “nanosponges,” are finding numerous applications. For example, they can serve as contaminant absorbers, carriers for drug delivery, catalysts for oxygen reduction, and templates for producing defect-free, ultra-low-k dielectrics. Typically, the sol-gel method is used to make these nanosponges, in which a solution containing nanoparticles in suspension is polymerized to form a gel. Ohio State researchers have discovered a method for the creation of nanosponges made by dispersing networks of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles in a polar fluid and exposing the suspension to low-level laser radiation. Remarkably, exposure to laser light leads to agglomeration of the dispersed bundles into a nanoporous structure whose average pore dimensions and volume fraction within the focal volume are tunable by light.
Main Advantages of Technical Approach
- Incredibly simple and inexpensive way to manufacture nanosponges
- Nanosponge structure is tunable by light
- Nanosponge/fluid suspension a great way to study the propagation of acoustic waves through inhomogeneous media
Market Potential
- Filtration and purification of microfluidics
- Chemical industries/battery manufacturers
- Biotechnology industries
- MEMS/NEMS manufacturers
Inventor
Ratnasingham SooryakumarContact Information
Demian Phillipsphillips.631@osu.edu | 614-688-5744
Technology Licensing & Commercialization
The Ohio State University
1216 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43212-1154
