University researchers have developed methods and articles of manufacture pertaining to extremely hydrophobic or superhydrophobic or superomniphobic surface coatings that are wear-resistant. The coatings are self-cleaning, transparent, insulating and anticorrosive under harsh chemical and thermal conditions. (more...)

Nitrogen-rich tetrazines, have broad applications in biochemistry including small-molecule imaging, genetically targeted protein tagging, post-synthetic DNA labeling, nanoparticle-based clinical diagnostics, in-vivo imaging, as well as significant use in materials science, coordination chemistry, and the production of high energy materials such as those used in specialty explosives research. Among other uses, tetrazines can serve as coupling agents for molecular imaging compounds such as fluorophores or magnetic contrast agents, or even as ligands for metal catalysts or inorganic materials such as metal-organic frameworks. Tetrazines are also valuable synthetic intermediates, and have been elegantly deployed on route to several natural product syntheses. Despite the promise of tetrazines, the lack of convenient synthetic methods is a significant roadblock to their broader use and study. (more...)

UC San Diego bioengineers have developed smart, self-healing hydrogels with far-reaching applications including medial sutures, targeted drug delivery, industrial sealants and self-healing plastics.  Photo Credit: Joshua Knoff, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. The gels, when damaged and then healed, have excellent mechanical properties including stretching, weight support, heat resistance and recovery from deformation. A recent paper in PNAS provides details of the development of these materials and discussion regarding some of  their possible applications can be found below under "Related Materials". (more...)

 Researchers have developed a fiber reinforced felt-based hybrid composite having good crash-management properties while maintaining the desired strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, as well as the corrosion resistance and durability required for automotive and aircraft usage. Substitution of one or more layers of a composite-reinforced fiber for nonwoven felt material ("needle" or "needle punch" felt) results in hybrid composites having significant cost savings over an all-fiber composite while being as effective for crash energy management. Effective crash energy management. Any desired shape or form may be molded, thus the product may be tailored to the specific application. Multiple layers of felt and fiber reinforcement may be used to tailor the crash and/or noise management properties to the specific application. Unlimited range of component shapes are possible depending upon the intended application. (more...)

Presented here is the novel mechanical application of adhesive hydrophobic materials to substrates, the patterning of these materials, and the controlled dip-coating of the resulting patterned substrates to allow the control of the spatial and volumetric attributes of liquid droplets. By controlling the speed with which the substrates are dip-coated, and the viscosity of the polymer bath, fine control over the volumes of liquid that are deposited at particular locations on the substrate is obtained. These techniques may be utilized in a variety of applications including microlens arrays, waveguides, bonding, and fluidic handling. (more...)

As part of the Tacky Dot® donation, the University is offering for commercialization an improved method for mounting particles on a substrate having both tacky and non-tacky areas using a direct current potential This invention especially has utility for the handling and transfer of solder balls and other conductive particles to form solder bumps on the contact pads of electronic devices. (more...)

Detecting ultra trace explosive analytes is important for forensic or counterterrorism  applications as well as for personnel, baggage, or cargo screening.  However, metal detectors frequently fail to detect explosives (such as those in the plastic casing of modern land mines); dogs are expensive and difficult to maintain: and other methods, including gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, surface-enhanced Raman, energy dispersive X-ray diffraction, for example, are highly selective, but are expensive and not easily adapted to a small, low-power package.  Therefore, chemical sensors are preferable to other detection devices. (more...)

There are presently many examples of 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional objects constructed using so-called self-assembly reactions. For example, covalent bonds formed between alkanethiols and gold substrates have been used to pattern surfaces; or hydrogen bonding interactions between DNA base pairs have been used to assemble nanoparticles into complex assemblies. Researchers at UC San Diego have developed a novel technique that allows for the production of optical films with spatially resolved, chemically-distinct layers. Although there is literature precedent for a range of surface modifications on porous silicon, the method can dually functionalize the sensors that impart to them their ability to self-assemble and orient selectively at an interface. The main requirement of the chemical modification reaction used in the functionalization steps is that they be stable to the hydrofluoric etchant used in generating subsequent porous silicon layers. It is anticipated that a number of chemical and electrochemical modification strategies developed for porous silicon can be used with this procedure. (more...)