Kyusoon Shin

Simple Fabrication of Asymmetric High-Aspect-Ratio Polymer Nanopillars by Reusable AAO Templates

We present a simple method of utilizing anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) as a reproducible template for fabricating high-aspect-ratio uniformly bent polymeric nanopillars that can be used as a physical adhesive. It is shown how to achieve straight high-aspect-ratio nanopillars with concepts of the work of adhesion and lateral collapse between polymer pillars without serious damage to the master template. With the support of manufacturing polymeric nanopillars from the reusable AAO, a simple route to asymmetric dry adhesive nanopillars bent by residual stresses was demonstrated.

Capillary Filling of Anodized Alumina Nanopore Arrays

The filling behavior of a room temperature solvent, perfluoromethylcyclohexane, in approximately 20 nm nanoporous alumina membranes was investigated in situ with small angle x-ray scattering. Adsorption in the pores was controlled reversibly by varying the chemical potential between the sample and a liquid reservoir via a thermal offset, DeltaT. The system exhibited a pronounced hysteretic capillary filling transition as liquid was condensed into the nanopores. These results are compared with Kelvin-Cohan theory, with a modified Derjaguin approximation, as well as with predictions by Cole and Saam.

Solvent mediated assembly of nanoparticles confined in mesoporous alumina

The controlled self-assembly of thiol stabilized gold nanocrystals in a mediating solvent and confined within mesoporous alumina was probed in situ with small angle x-ray scattering. The evolution of the self-assembly process was controlled reversibly via regulated changes in the amount of solvent condensed from an undersaturated vapor. Analysis indicated that the nanoparticles self-assembled into cylindrical monolayers within the porous template. Nanoparticle nearest-neighbor separation within the monolayer increased and the ordering decreased with the controlled addition of solvent. The process was reversible with the removal of solvent. Isotropic clusters of nanoparticles were also observed to form temporarily during desorption of the liquid solvent and disappeared upon complete removal of liquid. Measurements of the absorption and desorption of the solvent showed strong hysteresis upon thermal cycling. In addition, the capillary filling transition for the solvent in the nanoparticle-doped pores was shifted to larger chemical potential, relative to the liquid/vapor coexistence, by a factor of 4 as compared to the expected value for the same system without nanoparticles.

Influence of Surface Property on the Crystallization of Hentetracontane under Nanoscopic Cylindrical Confinement

The crystallization behavior and the orientation of linear alkane hentetracontane (C41) confined in cylindrical nanoporous alumina templates with different surface energies were investigated by nonisothermal crystallization and X-ray diffraction. The surface of pristine nanoporous alumina was modified to have low surface energy by grafting with polydimethylsiloxane. In the pristine nanoporous alumina, C41 crystallized at two crystallization temperature ranges, lower than bulk, and exhibited the decreased Avrami exponents. C41 in the surface-modified nanoporous alumina showed the inhibition of crystallization at higher temperature range among the two crystallization temperature ranges but the enhancement of crystallization at much lower temperature ranges than in the pristine nanoporous alumina. It was clearly shown that those variations of crystallization behavior imply the surface effect on crystallization. The crystal orientation was also affected by surface-modification of the alumina template. The a-axis of orthorhombic C41 crystals in the pristine nanoporous alumina was preferentially oriented parallel to the pore axis, while b- and c-axes were perpendicular to the pore axis. C41 crystals in the surface-modified nanoporous alumina showed two types of orientation. One was identical to that in the pristine nanoporous alumina, and the other was the orientation that the crystals were tilted with respect to the c-axis as the (110) plane parallel to the pore axis.

Enhancing gas sensing properties of graphene by using a nanoporous substrate

Substrate engineering is shown to be a viable approach for improving the use of graphene thin films for gas sensor applications. The performance of two-terminal devices fabricated on smooth SiO2 and nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) substrates are compared. Raman studies indicated that both types of samples exhibit similarly low point-defect densities, but the mobility values of the SiO2-supported films were found to be three times larger than those on porous AAO substrates. However, the AAO-supported graphene devices exhibit a 3-fold enhanced sensitivity to both NO2 and NH3 gases when compared to the devices supported on SiO2. We attribute this sensitivity enhancement to the inhomogeneous electrostatic potential landscape that results from the porous nature of the AAO substrate, as well as extended defects made of wrinkles or folds originated from AAO. This substrate design strategy could be extended to other semiconductor-based sensor devices.

From circular to triangular alumina nanopore arrays via simple replication

We found inverse-hexagonal packing pattern from self-assembled anodic aluminum oxide and exploited the pattern to obtain triangular pore array. By replicating the curved interface between aluminum and porous alumina, we fabricated a pattern with the opposite packing structure as well as the inversed pattern curvature. Anodization from the replicated structure formed triangular pores in inverse-hexagonal packing, whereas that from the original pattern produces circular pores in hexagonal packing. Our finding highlights the importance of the curvature as well as packing structure of pre-patterns in pore formation and achievement in the control via a simple replication process.