Oliver Brand Memorial Lectureship on Electronics and Nanotechnology | Nanoelectronics Grafted onto and within Colloids for Colloidal State Machines and Micro-Robotics

The Oliver Brand Memorial Lectureship on Electronics and Nanotechnology is presented as part of the Institute for Matter and Systems Opening Showcase. Click here to learn more about the event and RSVP for special lab tours.

Abstract: A here-to-fore unexplored property of 2D electronic materials such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride and MoS2 is their ability to graft electronic circuits, transistors, memory and sensors onto and within colloidal micro- or even nano-particles. Such particles can then access local hydrodynamics in fluids to impart mobility and can otherwise enter spaces inaccessible to larger electronic systems, particularly biological, geological or industrial process systems. This lecture will outline the vision of autonomous electronic particles that form the basis for new technologies. The concept of grafting and packaging nanoelectronics in new and enabling ways follows the pioneering tradition of Oliver Brand, for whom this lecture is dedicated.

Probe particles have been used in industry and medicine for decades, however colloidal state machines vastly increase the information collected and functions enabled. Herein, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of fully autonomous state machines built onto SU-8 particles powered by p-n heterojunctions of MoS2 and WSe2 operating as a photodiode. A 2D material circuit connects both a chemiresistor circuit element as a distinct MoS2 monolayer for the detection of VOCs or carbon particulates, as well as a memristor element placed in series consisting of a distinct MoS2 flake sandwiched between Au and Ag electrodes and protected from the environment by an hBN insulating monolayer. Colloidal state machines enable new functions, such as the detection and storage of information after aerosolization and hydrodynamic propulsion to targets over 0.6 m away. The systems are texted in a variety of constrained conduit environments and are also shown to enable large area surface detection of triethylamine, ammonia and aerosolized soot in otherwise inaccessible locations. An incorporated retroreflector design of the system allows for facile position location using laser-scanning optical detection. Such state machines, enabled by 2D nanoelectronics, may find widespread application as probes in confined environments such as the human digestive tract, oil and gas conduits, chemical and biosynthetic reactors, and as autonomous environmental sensors.

This recent interest in microscopic autonomous systems, including microrobots, colloidal state machines and smart dust motivated us to create an ultra-high power density micro-battery for such applications. We photolithographically pattern a microscale Zn/Pt/SU-8 system to generate the highest energy density microbattery at the picoliter (10-12 L) scale. The device scavenges ambient or solution dissolved oxygen for a Zn oxidation reaction, achieving an energy density ranging from 760 to 1070 watt-hour per liter at scales below 100 micrometers lateral and 2 micrometers thickness in size. We demonstrate that such systems can reliably power a micron-sized memristor circuit, providing access to non-volatile memory. We also cycle power to drive the reversible bending of microscale bimorph actuators at 0.05 hertz for mechanical functions of colloidal robots. Additional capabilities such as powering two distinct nanosensor types and a clock circuit are also demonstrated. The high energy density, low volume and simple configuration promise the mass fabrication and adoption of such picoliter Zn-air batteries for micron-scale, colloidal robotics with autonomous functions.

Bio: Professor Michael S. Strano is currently the Carbon P. Dubbs Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received is B.S from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware both in Chemical Engineering. He was a post doctoral research fellow at Rice University in the departments of Chemistry and Physics under the guidance of Nobel Laureate Richard E. Smalley. From 2003 to 2007, Michael was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before moving to MIT. His research focuses on biomolecule/nanoparticle interactions and the surface chemistry of low dimensional systems, nano-electronics, nanoparticle separations, and applications of vibrational spectroscopy to nanotechnology. Strano is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including a 2005 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a 2006 Beckman Young Investigator Award, the 2006 Coblentz Award for Molecular Spectroscopy, the Unilever Award from the American Chemical Society in 2007 for excellence in colloidal science, and the 2008 Young Investigator Award from the Materials Research Society and the 2008 Allen P. Colburn Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. From 2014 to 2015 he served as member of the Defense Science Study Group, and is currently an editor for the journals Carbon and Protocols in Chemical Biology. Michael was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017.