Superseeds & Seeds

Seed Highlights

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  (2022) Spray-on “SLIPS” and Controlled release “SNIPS”: New Designs for Slippery Antifouling Materials

  Coatings that prevent fouling are critical in commercial, industrial, and healthcare contexts. Wisconsin MRSEC researchers have developed new spray-based methods to make nanoporous water-repelling films and spray-on ‘slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces’ (SLIPS). These coatings are antifouling to a range of substances and microorganisms and can be produced using scalable, manufacturing-compatible methods. They also developed new antifouling ‘slippery nanoemulsion-infused porous’ (SNIPS) that use water-in-oil nanoemulsions to slowly release encapsulated cargo.

  November 8, 2022
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  (2022) An Underwater Topological Waveguide at MHz Frequencies

  Concepts of topology recently have been brought to bear on materials designed to control sound waves. Sound wavelengths are much longer than light, making acoustic materials easier to synthesize and their behavior easier to measure. Wisconsin MRSEC researchers are using topological acoustic materials to explore topological physics and enable applications in sensing, communication, and energy transport.

  November 1, 2022
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  (2021) Controlling Waves with 3D Printed Materials

  Materials with a repetitive pattern the same size as the wavelength of a wave can be used to control the wave, causing it to bend, perfectly reflect or transmit, or even turn around corners. Where different patterns meet, even more exotic behavior occurs, including making highways for light or sound that only travel in one direction or where the waves cannot be dissipated. Synthesizing such materials is a major challenge, which  Wisconsin MRSEC researchers have met by adapting a family of 3D printing techniques.

  August 9, 2021
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  (2020) Energy Transfer Inside of a Topological Photonic Materials

  The Wisconsin MRSEC has shown that molecules inside in a type of topological photonic material called a Weyl crystal can exchange energy over much larger distances. The intricate twisting structure of the material uses light to connect one molecule to others much farther away. Developing photonic Weyl crystals may contribute to more efficient LEDs and solar cells and improve molecular sensors.

  February 22, 2021
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  (2020) Machine Learning Algorithms

  The Wisconsin MRSEC has developed machine learning techniques that enable the design of new toxin sensors using liquid crystal droplets that respond to the presence of different bacterial toxins and at extremely low concentrations by changing shape and appearance. Machine learning enables computers to automatically analyze the droplet responses to measure toxin concentration and type automatically at high accuracy. More generally, these results demonstrate that the machine learning approach can quickly extract valuable information from complex datasets.

  June 17, 2020
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