{"id":15473,"date":"2017-10-06T14:11:09","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T18:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/?p=15473"},"modified":"2021-12-02T14:11:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T19:11:25","slug":"origami-ultrathin-films","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/origami-ultrathin-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Gracias Lab achieves origami with ultrathin films"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering have discovered a way to fold ultrathin materials, creating three-dimensional structures with significantly altered shapes and properties. Their Oct. 6 paper in Science Advances<\/em><\/a> reports the process, which involves folding up hybrid films composed of an atomically thin monolayer of graphene functionalized by thermally responsive polymer brushes. The films can be patterned into a variety of shapes including flowers and boxes, and can be selectively and reversibly folded on exposure to mild temperature increase.<\/p>\n

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Temperature induced self-folding of a functionalized graphene flower (Image: Weinan Xu\/JHU)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFolding can transform the physical and chemical properties of materials and can also be used to create 3D devices,\u201d said David Gracias<\/a>, professor. \u201cWe have achieved origami with a material that is 10,000 times thinner than a single sheet of regular paper. It opens the door to new and interesting 3D nanostructured materials and devices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group demonstrated that they could use this approach to wrap a single cell with graphene, which is important for single cell biosensing, and also create creased transistor and non-linear resistive electronic devices. \u201cThis is the first time that graphene has been transformed into well-defined, mass producible 3D structures. We achieve this while preserving the excellent properties of graphene by creating an organic-inorganic hybrid ultrathin composite,\u201d said Weinan Xu, the paper\u2019s lead author and a post-doctoral fellow in the Gracias lab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The experiments were rationalized using a multi-scale simulation model in collaboration with MIT researchers Zhao Qin and Chun-Teh Chen and Markus Buehler, professor. Other contributors included Johns Hopkins students Hyerin Kwag, Qinli Ma, and Anjishnu Sarkar.<\/p>\n

(Video: Zhao Qin\/MIT)<\/em><\/p>\n