Here we introduce a simple low-cost yet robust method to realize spontaneously wrinkled morphologies on spherical surfaces. It is based on surface chemical oxidation of aqueous-phase-synthesized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microspheres in the mixed H2SO4/HNO3/H2O solution. Consequently, curvature and overstress-sensitive wrinkles including dimples and labyrinth patterns are successfully induced...

Overexpression of the Vibrio fischeri sensor kinase RscS induces expression of the syp (symbiosis polysaccharide) gene cluster and promotes biofilm phenotypes such as wrinkled colony morphology, pellicle formation, and surface adherence. RscS is predicted to be a hybrid sensor kinase with a histidine kinase/ATPase (HATPase) domain, a receiver (Rec) domain, and a histidine phosphotransferase (Hp...

BACKGROUND Plant height is an important agronomic trait that affects yield and tolerance to certain abiotic stresses. Understanding the genetic control of plant height is important for elucidating the regulation of maize development and has practical implications for trait improvement in plant breeding. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this study, two independent, semi-dwarf maize EMS mutant...

Wrinkling has become a well developed bottom-up technique to make artificial surface textures in about the last decade. However, application of the optical properties of long range ordered wrinkles has been limited to one dimensional gratings to date. We report the demonstration of macroscopic optical focusing using wrinkled membranes, in which concentric wrinkle rings on a gold-PDMS bilayer me...

Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) membranes are promising candidates for use as sensitive pressure sensors. NCD membranes are able to withstand harsh conditions and are easily fabricated on glass. In this study the sensitivity of heavily boron doped NCD (B:NCD) pressure sensors is evaluated with respect to different types of supporting glass substrates, doping levels and membrane sizes. Higher pres...

The formation of patterned surfaces is a common tool to engineer materials. The capability to design and reproduce detailed features is a key factor to fulfill requirements for functional surfaces. Generation of wrinkles via buckling of a stiff film on a compliant surface is an inexpensive, easy and reliable method to yield a patterned surface. The wrinkling method has been exploited in a wide ...

A stiff skin forms on surface areas of a flat polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) upon exposure to focused ion beam (FIB) leading to ordered surface wrinkles. By controlling the FIB fluence and area of exposure of the PDMS, one can create a variety of patterns in the wavelengths in the micrometer to submicrometer range, from simple one-dimensional wrinkles to peculiar and complex hierarchical nested wr...