Genetically-engineered collagen peptides were assembled into freestanding films when QDs are co-assembled as joints between collagen domains. These peptide based films show excellent mechanical properties with Young's modulus of ~20 GPa, much larger than most of multi-composite polymer films and previously reported freestanding nanoparticle-assembled sheets, and it is even close to the bone tis...

The morphology, structural and optical properties of void-assisted freestanding HVPE-AlN films were investigated by a combination of non-destructive microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The freestanding approximately 80 mm thick clear film has a wurtzite crystalline structure with remarkable properties around the central film region. The E2(high)-phonon frequency coincides with reported st...

A new and facile strategy to fabricate composite thin films with tunable morphologies via self-assembly of block copolymer molecules at the air/liquid interface is first reported. The morphologies (parallel nanowires and foams) of these freestanding thin films can be tuned by varying the molecular structure or other experimental conditions.

The mechanical behavior of freestanding thin sputter-deposited films of Au is studied at temperatures up to 340°C using tensile testing. Films tested at elevated temperatures exhibit a significant decrease in flow stress and stiffness. Furthermore the flow stress decreases with decreasing film thickness, contravening the usual notion that “smaller is stronger”. This behavior is attributed mainl...

Films and nanosheets of layered chalcogenides are currently under intense investigation owing to their application in thin film electronic, optoelectronic, and sensor devices. Here, aqueous solution processing of the environmentally benign thiostannate, (NH4)4Sn2S6·3H2O, and its subsequent thermal decomposition to form continuous highly textured SnS2 thin films are presented. We show how to con...

Freestanding protein films are interesting for many applications ranging from microencapsulation to tissue engineering. Here, the authors use interfacial rheology to characterize the adsorption kinetics and the rheology of spider-silk films formed at an oil water interface. The high surface activity of the engineered spider-silk proteins results in a fast formation of highly stable films, which...

Highly ordered freestanding honeycomb films with asymmetric through-pore structures were prepared from polystyrene/gold-nanoparticles (PS/AuNPs) nanocomposite at an air/water interface using a one-step interfacial self-assembly method.

Recent theory [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 066102 (2006)] and experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 026102 (2007)] show that (0001) ultrathin films of wurtzite (WZ) materials surprisingly transform into a stable graphitelike structure, but the stability is limited to thicknesses of only a few atomic layers. Using first-principles calculations of both freestanding and substrate-supported thin films, we pred...

The present paper describes the preparation and characterization of Polyvinyl Alcohol-Polypyrrole-Silver Nanocomposite (PVA-PPy-Ag NC) films. The prepared films were conducting, freestanding, flexible, and robust. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were synthesized from an aqueous solution of silver nitrate using trisodium citrate as a reductant. The casting solution for the films was prepared by in...

We present ultra low-cycle fatigue experiments of axisymmetric nano-crystalline gold films of nano-thickness deformed by a spherical indenter using a recently developed freestanding membrane test. Freestanding membranes of gold were centrally deflected using a spherical indenter attached to a MEMS load cell. Fabrication of the films for these experiments yielded films 100 nm thick and 500 μm in...