Tawfick research featured on cover of MRS Bulletin

 

Assistant Professor Sam Tawfick’s research recently made the cover of MRS Bulletin. The February 2016 issue of the journal featured his invited paper, “Patterning via self-organization and self-folding,” on which he was first author. Co-authors of the paper include Jose Bico from ESPCI Paris Tech and Steven Barcelo from Hewlett Packard Enterprise. 

 

The theme of the February issue focused on the various methods of pattern formation at the micro and nanoscales by self-organization and self-folding. 

 

According to the MRS cover caption, “Most of these methods seek to control and pattern diverse materials across a range of length scales at low cost in a way that gives rise to new functionalities. The cover shows one example of how capillary forces can deform vertical carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to create an arrangement of circular patterns on a sub-millimeter scale, with the same complexity of real crop circles spanning 100 meters or more in diameter. When covered by a liquid droplet, some of the straight CNTs remain vertical, while others self-fold onto the substrate as dictated by their initial geometry, demonstrating the control that can be achieved by elasto-capillary engineering.”

 

Tawfick’s lab strives to understand the mechanics and physics of elasto-capillary phenomena, and to apply these effects in engineering of advanced surfaces with energy-efficient properties such as controlled wettability and adhesion. 

 

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done before elasto-capillary forming techniques are adopted by the industry,” said Tawfick. “Fortunately, our lab showed that, as a patterning process, the method is extremely versatile, simple and scalable, qualities which make it a strong candidate for future micro- and nano- three dimensional patterning.”

 

A publication of the Materials Research Society, in partnership with Cambridge University Press, MRS Bulletin is one of the most widely recognized and highly respected publications in advanced materials research.