Strain-engineered manufacturing of freeform carbon nanotube microstructures.

The skins of many plants and animals have intricate microscale surface features that give rise to properties such as directed water repellency and adhesion, camouflage, and resistance to fouling. However, engineered mimicry of these designs has been restrained by the limited capabilities of top-down fabrication processes. Here we demonstrate a new technique for scalable manufacturing of freeform microstructures via strain-engineered growth of aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Offset patterning of the CNT growth catalyst is used to locally modulate the CNT growth rate. This causes the CNTs to collectively bend during growth, with exceptional uniformity over large areas. The final shape of the curved CNT microstructures can be designed via finite element modeling, and compound catalyst shapes produce microstructures with multidirectional curvature and unusual self-organized patterns. Conformal coating of the CNTs enables tuning of the mechanical properties independently from the microstructure geometry, representing a versatile principle for design and manufacturing of complex microstructured surfaces.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final published version can be found in Nature Communications here: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140729/ncomms5512/full/ncomms5512.html. This paper will be under embargo until 29/1/15

New type of microengine using internal combustion of hydrogen and oxygen

Microsystems become part of everyday life but their application is restricted by lack of strong and fast motors (actuators) converting energy into motion. For example, widespread internal combustion engines cannot be scaled down because combustion reactions are quenched in a small space. Here we present an actuator with the dimensions 100x100x5 um^3 that is using internal combustion of hydrogen and oxygen as part of its working cycle. Water electrolysis driven by short voltage pulses creates an extra pressure of 0.5-4 bar for a time of 100-400 us in a chamber closed by a flexible membrane. When the pulses are switched off this pressure is released even faster allowing production of mechanical work in short cycles. We provide arguments that this unexpectedly fast pressure decrease is due to spontaneous combustion of the gases in the chamber. This actuator is the first step to truly microscopic combustion engines.Comment: Paper and Supplementary Information (to appear in Scientific Reports

Captive reptile mortality rates in the home and implications for the wildlife trade

The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT), as well as direct questioning (DQ). Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rate

CVD-Enabled Graphene Manufacture and Technology.

Integrated manufacturing is arguably the most challenging task in the development of technology based on graphene and other 2D materials, particularly with regard to the industrial demand for “electronic-grade” large-area films. In order to control the structure and properties of these materials at the monolayer level, their nucleation, growth and interfacing needs to be understood to a level of unprecedented detail compared to existing thin film or bulk materials. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has emerged as the most versatile and promising technique to develop graphene and 2D material films into industrial device materials and this Perspective outlines recent progress, trends, and emerging CVD processing pathways. A key focus is the emerging understanding of the underlying growth mechanisms, in particular on the role of the required catalytic growth substrate, which brings together the latest progress in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis and classic crystal/thin-film growth.Funding from the ERC (Grant No. 279342, InSituNANO) and EPSRC (Grant No. EP/K016636/1, GRAPHTED) is acknowledged. R.S.W. acknowledges a research fellowship from St. John’s College, Cambridge.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from ACS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.5b0105

Global and regional brain metabolic scaling and its functional consequences

Background: Information processing in the brain requires large amounts of metabolic energy, the spatial distribution of which is highly heterogeneous reflecting complex activity patterns in the mammalian brain. Results: Here, it is found based on empirical data that, despite this heterogeneity, the volume-specific cerebral glucose metabolic rate of many different brain structures scales with brain volume with almost the same exponent around -0.15. The exception is white matter, the metabolism of which seems to scale with a standard specific exponent -1/4. The scaling exponents for the total oxygen and glucose consumptions in the brain in relation to its volume are identical and equal to $0.86\pm 0.03$, which is significantly larger than the exponents 3/4 and 2/3 suggested for whole body basal metabolism on body mass. Conclusions: These findings show explicitly that in mammals (i) volume-specific scaling exponents of the cerebral energy expenditure in different brain parts are approximately constant (except brain stem structures), and (ii) the total cerebral metabolic exponent against brain volume is greater than the much-cited Kleiber's 3/4 exponent. The neurophysiological factors that might account for the regional uniformity of the exponents and for the excessive scaling of the total brain metabolism are discussed, along with the relationship between brain metabolic scaling and computation.Comment: Brain metabolism scales with its mass well above 3/4 exponen

Ruddlesden Popper 2D perovskites as Li-ion battery electrodes

The electrochemical performance of 2-dimensional hybrid perovskite electrodes for Li-ion batteries are investigated using a high-molarity electrolyte. The effect of changing the halide content and layering structure is systematically explored.</p

Sensory substitution information informs locomotor adjustments when walking through apertures

The study assessed the ability of the central nervous system (CNS) to use echoic information from sensory substitution devices (SSDs) to rotate the shoulders and safely pass through apertures of different width. Ten visually normal participants performed this task with full vision, or blindfolded using an SSD to obtain information regarding the width of an aperture created by two parallel panels. Two SSDs were tested. Participants passed through apertures of +0%, +18%, +35%, and +70% of measured body width. Kinematic indices recorded movement time, shoulder rotation, average walking velocity across the trial, peak walking velocities before crossing, after crossing and throughout a whole trial. Analyses showed participants used SSD information to regulate shoulder rotation, with greater rotation associated with narrower apertures. Rotations made using an SSD were greater compared to vision, movement times were longer, average walking velocity lower and peak velocities before crossing, after crossing and throughout the whole trial were smaller, suggesting greater caution. Collisions sometimes occurred using an SSD but not using vision, indicating that substituted information did not always result in accurate shoulder rotation judgements. No differences were found between the two SSDs. The data suggest that spatial information, provided by sensory substitution, allows the relative position of aperture panels to be internally represented, enabling the CNS to modify shoulder rotation according to aperture width. Increased buffer space indicated by greater rotations (up to approximately 35% for apertures of +18% of body width), suggests that spatial representations are not as accurate as offered by full vision

Bioaccumulation and ecotoxicity of carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have numerous industrial applications and may be released to the environment. In the aquatic environment, pristine or functionalized CNT have different dispersion behavior, potentially leading to different risks of exposure along the water column. Data included in this review indicate that CNT do not cross biological barriers readily. When internalized, only a minimal fraction of CNT translocate into organism body compartments. The reported CNT toxicity depends on exposure conditions, model organism, CNT-type, dispersion state and concentration. In the ecotoxicological tests, the aquatic organisms were generally found to be more sensitive than terrestrial organisms. Invertebrates were more sensitive than vertebrates. Single-walled CNT were found to be more toxic than double-/multi-walled CNT. Generally, the effect concentrations documented in literature were above current modeled average environmental concentrations. Measurement data are needed for estimation of environmental no-effect concentrations. Future studies with benchmark materials are needed to generate comparable results. Studies have to include better characterization of the starting materials, of the dispersions and of the biological fate, to obtain better knowledge of the exposure/effect relationships