Recipe for new resin suited to making electrodes uses lasers
for molding into almost any 3-D shape
Though its surface has been turned to carbon, the bunny-like
features can still be easily observed with a microscope. This rabbit sculpture,
the size of a typical bacterium, is one of several whimsical shapes created by
a team of Japanese scientists using a new material that can be molded into
complex, highly conductive 3-D structures with features just a few micrometers
across. Combined with state-of-the-art micro-sculpting techniques, the new
resin holds promise for making customized electrodes for fuel cells or
batteries, as well as biosensor interfaces for medical uses. The research team,
which includes physicists and chemists from Yokohama National University, Tokyo
Institute of Technology, and the company C-MET, Inc., presents its results in a
paper published today in the Optical Society’s (OSA) open-access journal
Optical Materials Express.