nano & biomaterials lab
Bio-Templated Multi-Scale Manufacturing: from Nano to Meter
Nature produces materials with highly complex and rich structures and geometries. The structural sophistication of common biogenic materials, such as bone, exhibits hierarchical features spanning many length scales, from a few nanometers to meters, bearing similarities to the multi- scale architectures found in microelectronic components and devices.
Figure 1: Electron micrograph featuring a 3 μm-diameter diatom frustule. The smallest features are pores with a diameter of ≈5 nm.
This project will explore how biologically made structures can be exploited to manufacture nanostructures from synthetic materials via bio-templation. Therefore, proces- ses will be developed that start with naturally grown structures and translate them into structures in silicon wafers. The structures we work with are frustules, the glassy skeletons of diatoms, algae-like micro-organisms (Figure 1). Since they are, essentially, made of glass, processing techniques compatible with semiconductor engineering can be employed.
The smallest feature sizes of frustules are ≈5 nm, comparable to the smallest feature sizes in cutting-edge microelectronics. To achieve larger structures, and ultimately span all length scales between nanometers and meters,we will explore techniques such as self-assembly and 3D- printing.
The vision of this project is that future structures from nano to macro could emerge from biological processes. They would simply be grown in parallel and on a large scale, in an environmentally benign way.
Participation in this project will provide exposure to many cutting-edge processing and characterization techniques, including optical microscopy, electron microscopy, self-assembly, and 3D-printing. STEM students with an interest in experimental materials science are welcome to join the lab, located in the middle of the beautiful historic William & Mary campus, to work alongside several PhD and undergraduate students in the group.
Contact:
Prof. Hannes Schniepp, Department of Applied Science, schniepp@wm.edu, http://nanomat.as.wm.edu
