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Many natural surfaces, including the wings of cicada insects, have shown to display bactericidal properties as a result of surface topography. Moreover, the size and distribution of the surface features (on the nano- and microscale) are known to influence the efficacy of the surface at inhibiting bacterial cell growth. While these types of natural surfaces illustrate the effect of structure on the bactericidal activity, a deeper understanding can be achieved by creating surfaces of different feature sizes. This is essential in order to understand the effects of changes of surface topography on bacteria-surface interactions. To this end, we have performed a series of replica molding processes of the wings of the Megapomponia Intermedia cicada to prepare wing replicas in polyethylene glycol (PEG), which possess the topographical features of the wing surface, with a minimum loss of feature resolution. Atomic force microscopy characterization of these patterned surfaces in both air and aqueous environments shows that by controlling the swelling characteristics of the PEG, we can control the ultimate swollen dimensions of the nanopillar structures on the surface of PEG. As a result, by using a single wing with an average nanopillar height of 220 nm, different patterned PEG samples with nanopillar heights ranging from 180 to 307 nm were produced.

Probing electromechanical coupling in biological systems and electroactive molecules requires high resolution functional imaging. Here, we investigate the feasibility of intermittent contact mode piezoresponse force microscopy based on simultaneous mechanical and electrical probe modulation. It is shown that imaging at frequencies corresponding to the first contact resonance in liquid allows contrast consistent with the electromechanical signal to be obtained for model ferroelectric systems and piezoelectric tooth dentin.

Nanocomposites of diphenylalanine (FF) and carbon based materials provide an opportunity to overcome drawbacks associated with using FF micro- and nanostructures in nanobiotechnology applications, in particular their poor structural stability in liquid solutions. In this study, FF/graphene oxide (GO) composites were found to self-assemble into layered micro- and nanostructures, which exhibited improved thermal and aqueous stability. Dependent on the FF/GO ratio, the solubility of these structures was reduced to 35.65% after 30 min as compared to 92.4% for pure FF samples. Such functional nanocomposites may extend the use of FF structures to e.g. biosensing, electrochemical, electromechanical or electronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local reactivity on periodically proton exchanged lithium niobate (PPE:LN) surfaces is a promising route for the fabrication of regularly spaced nanostructures. Here, using MgO-doped PPE:LN templates, we investigate the influence of the doping on the nanostructure formation as a function of the proton exchange (PE) depth. The deposition is found to occur preferentially along the boundary between MgO-doped LN and the PE region when the PE depth is at least 1.73 μm, however, for shallower depths, deposition occurs across the entire PE region. The results are found to be consistent with an increased photoconductivity of the MgO-doped LN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photodeposition of metallic nanostructures onto ferroelectric surfaces, which have been chemically patterned using a proton exchange process, has recently been demonstrated. By varying the molar concentration of the AgNO3 solution and the illumination time, one can determine the initial nucleation sites, control the rate of nucleation and the height of silver nanostructures formed, and study the mechanisms by which these processes occurs. The nanoparticles are found to deposit preferentially in the boundary between ferroelectric and proton exchanged regions, in an area proton exchanged via lateral diffusion under the masking layer used for chemical patterning, consistent with our previous results. Using a short illumination time (3 min), we are able to determine that the initial nucleation of the silver nanostructure, having a width of 0.17 ± 0.02 μm and a height of 1.61 ± 0.98 nm, occurs near the edge of the reactive ion etched area within this lateral diffusion region. Over longer illumination times (15 min), we find that the silver deposition has spread to a width of 1.29 ± 0.06 μm, extending across the entire lateral diffusion region. We report that at a high molar concentration of AgNO3 (10-2 M), the amount of silver deposition for 5 min UV illumination is greater (2.88 ± 0.58 nm) compared to that at low (10-4 M) concentrations (0.78 ± 0.35 nm), however, this is not the case for longer time periods. With increasing illumination time (15 min), experiments at 10-4 M had greater overall deposition, 6.90 ± 1.52 nm, compared to 4.50 ± 0.76 nm at 10-2 M. For longer exposure times (30 min) at 10-2 M, the nanostructure height is 4.72 ± 0.59 nm, suggesting a saturation in the nanostructure height. The results are discussed in terms of the electric double layer that forms at the crystal surface. There is an order of magnitude difference between the Debye lengths for 10-2 and 10-4 M solutions, i.e., 3.04 vs. 30.40 nm, which suggests the Debye length plays a role in the availability of Ag+ ions at the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piezoelectric properties of PbTiO3 in 1/3PbTiO3-2/3CoFe2O4 transverse epitaxial nanostructures on differently oriented SrTiO3 were analyzed using conventional and switching-spectroscopy piezoelectric force microscopy. The results confirmed that the individual PbTiO3 nanocolumns in the CoFe2O4 matrix exhibit a detectable piezoelectric response regardless of substrate orientation. For the {100} and {110} orientations, a bias of ±10 V produced ferroelectric domain switching; however, no switching was observed for the {111} films. Small values of piezoelectric constants dzz(100)≈11 pm/V, dzz(110)≈5 pm/V, and dzz(111)≈3 pm/V are attributed to the weak intrinsic response of the nano-PbTiO3 under strong mechanical and depolarizing-field constraints in the composite films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoreduction on a periodically proton exchanged ferroelectric crystal leads to the formation of periodic metallic nanostructures on the surface. By varying the depth of the proton exchange (PE) from 0.59 to 3.10 μm in congruent lithium niobate crystals, the width of the lateral diffusion region formed by protons diffusing under the mask layer can be controlled. The resulting deposition occurs in the PE region with the shallowest PE depth and preferentially in the lateral diffusion region for greater PE depths. PE depth-control provides a route for the fabrication of complex metallic nanostructures with controlled dimensions on chemically patterned ferroelectric templates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]