Nanoartography image of the month
Each month an image from the past NanoArtography finalists will be selected. The image of the month will be shown on the NanoArtograhy webpage and its Facebook page. Check back every month to see if your image is selected!
Congratulations to all!
DecembeR 2021
The Snow Has Fallen Over the Pine Forest
Andreia Sofia Santana dos Santos,
Associaco Almascience - lnvestigacao e Desenvolvimento em Celulose para Aplicacoes lnteligentes e Sustentaveis (ALMASCIENCE), Portugal
Material: polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microstructure covered with silver nanoparticles
Image size: N/A
NanoArtography 2021 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist:
This image shows a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micro-structured film covered with the ink of silver particles. The microstructuring was achieved by using laser engraving equipment to produce a mold in an acrylic substrate and then using the mold in a soft-lithography process. The ink was spread over the structures by spin-coating. These films have been employed in e-skin like piezoresistive sensors, resistive temperature sensors, and even energy harvesters.
November 2021
Ti3CN Antelope Canyon
Kanit Hantanasirisakul, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Material: titanium carbonitride MXene
Image size: The width of the “cliff” on the right-hand side is ~ 0.02 mm.
NanoArtography 2016 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist:
The curved structure presented in the picture is a porous Ti3CN Mxene. The width of the “cliff” on the right-hand side of the picture is approximately 0.02 mm (20 microns). The author tries to match the MXene microporous structure with the Antelope Canyon in Nevada. MXene and antelope do have something in common in the sense that they are made from soil (clay for MXene).
October 2021
Cobalt Oxide Web of Neurotransmitters
Kampara Roopa Kishore, SASTRA Deemed University, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India
Material: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) - cobalt oxide
Image size: The image width is 0.075 mm.
NanoArtography 2020 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist:
The image shows electrospun biomimetic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) - cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanofibers as human brain neurotransmitters. PVA and cobalt (II) chloride hexahydrate were used for the synthesize of PVA-Co3O4 nanofibers by electrospinning technique, which resembles human brain neurons.
The interconnection of nanofibers looks like the nucleus of a neuron and the elongated nanofiber morphology replicates the axon of the neuron. PVA-Co3O4 nanofibers with a high surface area to volume ratio had many applications in gas sensors, catalysis, fuel cells, and energy storage applications. These PVA-Co3O4 nanofibers had shown good vapor sensing response towards methanol vapor, for the concentration ranging from 21 ppm to 2094 ppm at 350 °C operating temperature. PVA-Co3O4 nanofibers were characterized by a field emission scanning electron microscope.
September 2021
Autumn Leaves of Carbon Nanotubes
Juan Luis Fajardo Díaz, San Luis Potosí Institute of Scientific Research and Technology, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Material: carbon nanotubes (CNTs)
Image size: The image width is 0.11 mm.
NanoArtography 2020 Finalist
Image description by the scientist/artist:
This image illustrates carbon nanotubes (CNTs) formation that resembles a leaves interaction like the fallen leaves of a tree. The combination of colors like dark green, yellow, and red simulating colors of autumn leaves fit very well with the spatial distribution, curved sections, hills, and structure obtained from the CNT.
These CNTs grew over a Co-Cu thin film in a chemical vapor deposition system. The combination of a sulfonated and oxygenated precursor, temperature variation, reductive atmosphere, and time of synthesis modifies the growth mechanism of Co nanoparticles. It creates very short and thin CNTs that agglomerates and display these peculiar patterns over the sample. This effect is probably associated with a specific decomposition process of the sulfonated and oxygenated precursor and the interaction with Co and Cu catalysts.
August 2021
Microcosmos
Steven Boeynaems, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Material: Proteins from egg white and milk powder
Image size: Droplets are a few mm in size.
NanoArtography 2020 Winner
Image description by the scientist/artist:
An artist’s impression of the cellular microcosmos. Dive into a galaxy of liquid stars and protein nebulas:
Protein phase separation constitutes a key process by which life has evolved on Earth. From the origins of Life itself to cellular subcompartmentalization, phase separation of biomolecules has recently been proven essential to our understanding of these processes. In this series, I present an "artist's impression" of phase separation. By using only reagents and chemicals found in the lab, supplemented with proteins from egg white and milk powder, I try to recreate the phenomenal complexity and beauty of this process. We see the formation of liquid droplets, which fuse and mix together creating complex and unanticipated hues and tones. Protein aggregation, notoriously implicated in human disease, is now repurposed to create fantastic nebulas and clouds of precipitated biological matter. Just like our cells, these artworks are dynamic and ever-evolving.
July 2021
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Nano Lord Voldemort
Armin VahidMohammadi, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
Material: 2D Ti2C MXene
Image size: The image width is ~ 0.008 mm.
NanoArtography 2016 Finalist
Image description by the scientist/artist: SEM image of the stacked nanosheets of Ti2C MXene material, representing the face of Lord Voldemort character in Harry Potter movies. Ti2C MXene material is synthesized by selective etching of the Al atoms from Ti2AlC MAX phase and is a promising material for energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and batteries. The SEM image was taken using JEOL JSM-7000F Scanning Electron Microscope and colored and visualized using computer software without any manipulation to the original image.
June 2021
MXene Coated Yarn Rainbow
Tetiana Hryhorchuk, Ariana Levitt, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Material: 2D metal carbide MXenes on cellulose yarns
Image size: The image width is ~ 0.23 mm.
NanoArtography 2019 Finalist
Image description by the scientist/artist: Scanning electron microscope image of conductive MXene coated synthetic yarn colored using Adobe Photoshop. The image represents the simple things that are most beautiful.
May 2021
Flower and Their Ties
Vitor Anibal do Sacramento Mendes, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil
Material: Leucophyllum flower
Image size: The image width is ~ 1.5 mm.
NanoArtography 2020 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: Micrograph of the flower of the Leucophyllum frutescens plant, popularly known as silver rain in Brazil.
April 2021
A Crystalline Silver Flower
Jacopo Profili, Université Laval- Chu de Québec, Québec city, Canada
Material: Silver nanoparticles on a silicon substrate
Image size: The image width is ~ 0.1 mm.
NanoArtography 2020 finalist
Image description by the scientist/artist: A thin and delicate layer of silver nanoparticles has been shaken by ionized gas. This energetic gas strongly interacts with the surface and modifies the fabric of the matter. As a result, the spheres change their shape and slow growth to form sharp structures well distributed on the surface. These poetic flowers spread over the silicon surface like fragile emerald crystals. Here, by using scanning electron microscopy, we discover the beautiful organization of these tiny particles on a purple carpet.
March 2021
The Lost Flower of Snegurochka (“Snow Maiden”)
Rajashree Konar and Gilbert Daniel Nessim, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Material: Silver sulfide
Image size: The image width is ~ 0.02 mm.
NanoArtography 2019 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: The flowers are of silver sulfide synthesized using an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD). The microstructure has unique flowers growing at the tip of the hollows.
February 2021
Bismuth heart
Wei Sun, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Material: Bismuth nanoparticles
Image size: The image width is ~ 0.01 mm.
NanoArtography 2017 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: Randomly assembled bismuth nanoparticles formed a heart shape during the drying process. Because of the heart-like shape, we colorized the bismuth nanoparticles red.
January 2021
Mysterious Night at Rocky Mountain
Ulugbek Shaislamov, Jeju National University, South Korea
Material: Copper nanorods
Image size: The image width is 0.55 mm.
NanoArtography 2017 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: Presented vertically aligned nanostructures are copper nanorod arrays that were prepared by the template-based electrodeposition method. The irregular height of the nanorods resembles a mountain that is lit by moonlight at mysterious night.
December 2020
Zinc Oxide Moon
J. A. Allen, J. Aarthy Tagore, M. Manoj Prabhakar, C. Viswanathan, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Material: Zinc oxide
Image size: The diameter of the zinc oxide moon is 0.012 mm
NanoArtography 2019 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: Zinc Oxide Moon is synthesized using the hydrothermal method. It is a dense microsphere composed of irregular nanosheets. In dark, zinc oxide moon illuminates.
November 2020
Crystal Harvest
Sarah Gleeson, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Material: Calcium phosphate
Image size: The width of the image is ~0.008 mm
NanoArtography 2019 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: Calcium phosphate mineral grows into large, plate-like sheets from the polymer substrate it was deposited onto. These flat, jagged crystalline sheets grow outwards surrounding a center of smaller mineral crystals. This image was captured by a scanning electron microscope.
October 2020
Hellfire
Jizhen Zhang, Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
Material: 2D nano titanium carbide (Ti3C2 MXene)
Image size: The width of the image is ~0.2 mm
NanoArtography 2018 winner
Image description by the scientist/artist: The image represents a cross-section of MXene (Ti3C2Tx) aerogel film prepared by the freeze-drying approach being developed by our research group. The combination of MXene flakes and porous forms flame-like architecture. The MXene aerogel film with highly aligned MXene flakes and connected interspace enable high rate charge and discharge for energy storage applications. This image was captured by a scanning electron microscope.
September 2020
Copper on Carbon Fiber
Amir Masoud Pourrahimi, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Fibre and Polymer Technology, Sweden
Material: Copper superstructures on carbon fiber
Image size: The width of the image is ~0.01mm
NanoArtography 2017 finalist
Image description by the scientist/artist: The scanning electron micrograph of copper superstructures on carbon fiber, which are synthesized by electrodeposition. The conductive and high surface-area-to-volume carbon fibers were here used as a substrate for the deposition of copper metals. The deposited copper hierarchical superstructures were assembled from intersecting nano-sheets, resulting in a grid-like morphology. The pores located between the nano-sheets (10-50 nm) resulted in high porosity and specific surface area.
August 2020
Lord of the Rings
Nina Tarnowicz, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Poland
Material: SCdSe/CdS nanoparticles on a PVA-coated substrate
Image size: Image width is ~ 0.87 mm
NanoArtography 2017 finalist
Image description by the scientist/artist: Image presents aggregates of CdSe/CdS nanoparticles (quantum dots, dot in a rod type) on a PVA-coated substrate, poured with popular nematic liquid crystal - MBBA. Skipping the whole scientific side of the image, it reminds me of the Middle-earth and the inscription on the One Ring written with Elvish letters (tengwar). One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
July 2020
The Starry Night under TEM (Evolution of peptide nanostructures)
Charalampos Pappas, Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York, USA
Material: Supramolecular peptide nanostructures
Image size: Image width is ~ 0.001 mm (1 µm)
NanoArtography 2017, second place winner
Image description: This transmission electron microscope (TEM) image represents an example of a supramolecular peptide nanostructure that was discovered using a dynamic peptide library approach, where peptide sequences are dynamically exchanged, giving rise to a competition of sequences and resulting in the spontaneous selection and formation of stable self-assembling nanostructures.
JUNE 2020
Mary and Yamada’s Concrete Rose
Gabriel Burks, Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA
Material: Poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVDF hedrite agglomerates
Image size: Image width is ~ 0.02 mm (20 µm)
NanoArtography 2016 finalist
Image description: ln homage to the late Tupac Shakur's "The Rose that Grew from Concrete," this image is dedicated to all the beautiful things that manifest as the result of great struggle, tremendous opposition, and less than optimal conditions. This rose garden is for the dreamer that wants to desperately escape from their current plight into a place where anything is possible and where dreams really do come true. I find this theme to be particularly relevant given today's set of current events where underrepresented minorities in the United States of America find themselves at a crossroads between patriotism and civil human rights. It is sad to say that in the 21st century human beings are slain by law enforcement like wild animals, but just as the rose grew from concrete, this situation will also bear a beautiful and inspiring miracle.
Scientifically speaking, this image is one of colorized Poly(vinylidene fluoride) PVDF hedrite agglomerates viewed under a scanning electron microscope.
May 2020
