‘Science and art are not as far apart as common wisdom makes them seem. So much beauty can appear while doing research, in simulations, under microscopes and in photography,” writes the organization of the Science as Art photo competition, of the University of Chicago, in their call for entries.
Do say so.
Origami in a Tube, contributor Di Wang called his winning photo. The doctoral student from the University of Chicago made it with a scanning electron microscope. This is a microscope that makes the microstructure of materials visible to the human eye.
In his research, Wang is looking for ways to make good layers of 2D transition metals. The best-known 2D material is graphene, a specific variant of graphite. It is called 2D because the material can be deposited in a layer one atom thick. That is possible with more materials, and a lot of research is being done into this. Wang’s family of 2D materials are called MXenes, where M represents early transition metals such as titanium, vanadium or niobium and X represents carbon or nitrogen. There is a lot of scientific interest in these MXenes because they can be useful in energy storage, as a superconductor or in catalysis. But making it is no easy feat.
Until now, the atomic layers of MXenes have been made with special etching methods. Wang’s approach is different, he grows the metal layer by chemical vapor deposition, a way that has not yet been used for these materials. The reaction of methane and titanium tetrachloride on a titanium surface led to the growth of two-dimensional sheets perpendicular to the metal. At some point, the sheets bend and deform in a way that is unmistakably floral. The flowers provide good storage for lithium ions, Wang showed in his research. He published in March about in Science.
The photo wins Wang $300 and a framed print of his photo.