This paper explores the electrochemical patterning of thin metal films using a scanning probe tip as an electrode. In particular, a masking nickel film is etched to reveal a gold pattern to which biomolecules like liposomes and proteins can be attached after treatment with functionalized self assembled monolayers (SAMs) of gold-thiolate. The machining is performed by ultracomplaint polyimide mi...

Low color, space environmentally durable polymeric films with sufficient electrical conductivity to mitigate electrostatic charge (ESC) build-up have potential applications on large, deployable, ultra-light weight Gossamer spacecraft as thin film membranes on antennas, solar sails, thermal/optical coatings, multi-layer insulation blankets, etc.. The challenge has been to develop a method to imp...

Interplanetary space radiation poses a serious health hazard in long-term manned space missions. Natural Martian surface materials are evaluated for their potential use as radiation shields for manned Mars missions. The modified radiation fluences behind various kinds of Martian rocks and regolith are determined by solving the Boltzmann equation using NASA Langley’s HZETRN code along with the 1...

We describe here a neurotrophic electrode designed to improve long-term reliability and signal-tonoise in a brain-device interface. Our electrode consists of a fine microwire inside a polyimide tube. The polyimide tube is filled with nerve growth factor (NGF) incorporated into a fibrin matrix. Our goal is to have a neurite grow into the tube. The close apposition between neurite and the recordi...

Polyimide is one of the most popular substrate materials for the microfabrication of flexible electronics, while polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is the most widely used stretchable substrate/encapsulant material. These two polymers are essential in fabricating devices for microfluidics, bioelectronics, and the internet of things; bonding these materials together is a crucial challenge. In this work...

We report an air electrode employing polyimide-coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) combined with a redox mediator for Li-O2 cells with enhanced electrochemical performance. The polyimide coating on the carbon surface suppresses unwanted side reactions, which decreases the amount of accumulated reaction products on the surface of the air electrode during cycling. The redox mediators lower the overpot...

This paper presents the process development towards a new generation of nanostructured thermoelectric generators for power harvesting from small temperature gradients by using a combination of traditional silicon microfabrication techniques, electroplating and submicron ion-track nanolithography. Polyimide nanotemplates with pore diameters ranging from 30 nm to 120 nm were fabricated. Prelimina...

A three-dimensional micromechanical finite element model is developed to study the viscoelastic behavior of the silica nanoparticle/polyimide nanocomposites. The representative volume element (RVE) of the model consists of three phases including silica nanoparticle, polyimide matrix and interphase which surrounds the nanoparticle. The interphase region is created due to the interaction between ...