Sang-Hyon Chu

Cobalt oxide hollow nanoparticles derived by bio-templating

We present here the first fabrication of hollow cobalt oxide nanoparticles produced by a protein-regulated site-specific reconstitution process in aqueous solution and describe the metal growth mechanism in the ferritin interior.

Boron nitride nanotube: synthesis and applications

Scientists have predicted that carbon’s immediate neighbors on the periodic chart, boron and nitrogen, may also form perfect nanotubes, since the advent of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in 1991. First proposed then synthesized by researchers at UC Berkeley in the mid 1990’s, the boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) has proven very difficult to make until now. Herein we provide an update on a catalyst-free method for synthesizing highly crystalline, small diameter BNNTs with a high aspect ratio using a high power laser under a high pressure and high temperature environment first discovered jointly by NASA/NIA/JSA. Progress in purification methods, dispersion studies, BNNT mat and composite formation, and modeling and diagnostics will also be presented. The white BNNTs offer extraordinary properties including neutron radiation shielding, piezoelectricity, thermal oxidative stability (> 800°C in air), mechanical strength, and toughness. The characteristics of the novel BNNTs and BNNT polymer composites and their potential applications are discussed.

Ultrasonication of Bismuth Telluride Nanocrystals Fabricated by Solvothermal Method

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of ultrasonication on bismuth telluride nanocrystals prepared by solvothermal method. In this study, a low dimensional nanocrystal of bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) was synthesized by a solvothermal process in an autoclave at 180°C and 200 psi. During the solvothermal reaction, organic surfactants effectively prevented unwanted aggregation of nanocrystals in a selected solvent while controlling the shape of the nanocrystal. The atomic ratio of bismuth and tellurium was determined by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The cavitational energy created by the ultrasonic probe was varied by the ultrasonication process time, while power amplitude remained constant. The nanocrystal size and its size distribution were measured by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and a dynamic light scattering system. When the ultrasonication time increased, the average size of bismuth telluride nanocrystal gradually increased due to the direct collision of nanocrystals. The polydispersity of the nanocrystals showed a minimum when the ultrasonication was applied for 5 min.

Power Technology for Application-Specific Scenarios of High Altitude Airships

The High Altitude Airship (HAA) has various potential applications and mission scenarios that require onboard energy harvesting and power distribution systems. The energy source considered for HAAs is solar photon energy that allows the use of either photovoltaic (PV) cells or advanced thermoelectric (ATE) converters. Both PV cells and an ATE system were briefly compared to identify the advantages of ATE for HAA applications in this study. Utilizing the estimated high efficiency of a three-staged ATE in a tandem mode, the ATE generates a higher quantity of harvested energy than PV cells for mission scenarios. When the ATE performance figure of merit of 5 is considered, the cascaded efficiency of a three-staged ATE system approaches an overall efficiency greater than 60%. Based on this estimated efficiency, the configuration of a HAA and the power utility modules are defined.

Fabrication of cell structures for bionanobattery

The concept of a bio-nanobattery is based on ferritin, an iron storage protein that naturally exists in most biological systems. Biomineralization allows ferritins to reconstitute iron core with various metallic cores. When the ferritin half cells are integrated into a complete battery system, the fabrication of well-organized ferritin arrays is necessary and very important to enhance the overall battery performance, improving the battery power density, the power discharge rate, the compactness of battery size, etc. In this work, a spin self-assembly (SA) method was used for producing a thin-film array structure of ferritins. The spin SA deposition was repeated until two bilayers of cationized and native ferritins or 4 alternating ferritin layers were achieved. High-resolution field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) were used to characterize the multilayered ferritin arrays. The thickness of ferritin multilayer increased linearly as the spin SA deposition was repeated. The spin SA deposition method produced well-organized, uniform, and flat ferritin layers in a much shorter period of time, compared with Langmuir-Blodgett or dipping deposition methods. Such enhancement can be attributed to a strong electrostatic attraction that holds the ferritin layer on the substrate during the spin-coating process while hydrodynamic drag and centrifugal forces remove loosely-bound ferritins.

Development of a Bio-nanobattery for Distributed Power Storage Systems

Currently available power storage systems, such as those used to supply power to microelectronic devices, typically consist of a single centralized canister and a series of wires to supply electrical power to where it is needed in a circuit. As the size of electrical circuits and components become smaller, there exists a need for a distributed power system to reduce Joule heating, wiring, and to allow autonomous operation of the various functions performed by the circuit. Our research is being conducted to develop a bio-nanobattery using ferritins reconstituted with both an iron core (Fe-ferritin) and a cobalt core (Co-ferritin). Both Co-ferritin and Fe-ferritin were synthesized and characterized as candidates for the bio-nanobattery. The reducing capability was determined as well as the half-cell electrical potentials, indicating an electrical output of nearly 0.5 V for the battery cell. Ferritins having other metallic cores are also being investigated, in order to increase the overall electrical output. Two dimensional ferritin arrays were also produced on various substrates, demonstrating the necessary building blocks for the bio-nanobattery. The bio-nanobattery will play a key role in moving to a distributed power storage system for electronic applications.

DEVELOPMENT OF NANOSCALE POWER SYSTEM USING BIOLOGICAL SELF-ASSEMBLY METHOD

Horse spleen ferritin with iron core (Fe-ferritin) and the ferritin reconstituted with cobalt (Co-ferritin) are considered for the concept of a bio-nanobattery that will be a key element to a distributed energy storage system. The Co-ferritin has a good stability and was successfully synthesized and tested for reducing capability. The redox potential of Fe/Co ferritins obtained as a bio-nanobattery unit was 0.50 V. A two - dimensional ferritin array was also fabricated on Si substrate with a c ationized ferritin, by the spin self- assembly (SSA) deposition.

Ferritin-templated quantum-dots for quantum logic gates

Quantum logic gates (QLGs) or other logic systems are based on quantum-dots (QD) with a stringent requirement of size uniformity. The QD are widely known building units for QLGs. The size control of QD is a critical issue in quantum-dot fabrication. The work presented here offers a new method to develop quantum-dots using a bio-template, called ferritin, that ensures QD production in uniform size of nano-scale proportion. This technology is essential for NASA, DoD, and industrial nanotechnology applications such as: ultra-high density data storage, quantum electronic devices, biomedical nanorobots, molecular tagging, terahertz radiation sources, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), etc. The bio-template for uniform yield of QD is based on a ferritin protein that allows reconstitution of core material through the reduction and chelation processes. By either the magnetic or electrical property of reconstituted core materials, the QD can be used for logic gates which are fundamental building blocks for quantum computing. However, QLGs are in an incubation stage and still have many potential obstacles that need to be addressed, such as an error collection, a decoherence, and a hardware architecture. One of the biggest challenges for developing QLG is the requirement of ordered and uniform size of QD for arrays on a substrate with nanometer precision. The other methods known so far, such as self-assembled QD grown in the Stranski-Krastanov mode, are usually randomly organized. The QD development by bio-template includes the electrochemical/chemical reconstitution of ferritins with different core materials, such as iron, cobalt, manganese, platinum, and nickel. The other bio-template method used in our laboratory is dendrimers, precisely defined chemical structures. With ferritin-templated QD, we fabricated the heptagon-shaped patterned array via direct nano manipulation of the ferritin molecules with a tip of atomic force microscope (AFM). We also designed various nanofabrication methods of QD arrays using a wide range manipulation techniques. The precise control of the ferritin-templated QD for a patterned arrangement are offered by various methods, such as a site-specific immobilization of thiolated ferritins through local oxidation using the AFM tip, ferritin, arrays induced by gold nanoparticle manipulation, thiolated ferritin positioning by shaving method, etc. In the signal measurements, the current-voltage curve is obtained by measuring the current through the ferritin, between the tip and the substrate for potential sweeping or at constant potential. The measured resistance near zero bias was 1.8 teraohm for single holoferritin and 5.7 teraohm for single apoferritin, respectively.

Electrochemical reconstitution of biomolecules for applications as electrocatalysts for the bionanofuel cell

Platinum-cored ferritins were synthesized as electrocatalysts by electrochemical biomineralization of immobilized apoferritin with platinum. The platinum cored ferritin was fabricated by exposing the immobilized apoferritin to platinum ions at a reduction potential. On the platinum-cored ferritin, oxygen is reduced to water with four protons and four electrons generated from the anode. The ferritin acts as a nano-scale template, a biocompatible cage, and a separator between the nanoparticles. This results in a smaller catalyst loading of the electrodes for fuel cells or other electrochemical devices. In addition, the catalytic activity of the ferritin-stabilized platinum nanoparticles is enhanced by the large surface area and particle size phenomena. The work presented herein details the immobilization of ferritin with various surface modifications, the electrochemical biomineralization of ferritin with different inorganic cores, and the fabrication of self-assembled 2-D arrays with thiolated ferritin.

Extraction of Boron Nitride Nanotubes and Fabrication of Macroscopic Articles Using Chlorosulfonic Acid

Due to recent advances in high-throughput synthesis, research on boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) is moving toward applications. One future goal is the assembly of macroscopic articles of high-aspect-ratio, pristine BNNTs. However, these articles are presently unattainable because of insufficient purification and fabrication methods. We introduce a solution process for extracting BNNTs from synthesis impurities without sonication or the use of surfactants and proceed to convert the extracted BNNTs into thin films. The solution process can also be used to convert as-synthesized material-which contains significant amounts of hexagonal boron nitride ( h-BN)-into mats and aerogels with controllable structure and dimension. The solution extraction method, combined with further advances in synthesis and purification, contributes to the development of all-BNNT macroscopic articles, such as fibers and 3-D structures.