IIT-Kharagpur's Nandini Bhandaru wins European Materials Research Society Award
Nandini Bhandaru, a PhD student at IIT-Kharagpur has won the Young Scientist Award of the European Materials Research Society’s (E-MRS) for contribution to materials science.
She had won the award for her outstanding contribution to materials science and nanotechnology, particularly nano-patterning of soft films and surfaces.
Presently, Ms. Bhandaru is working at the Instability and Soft Patterning Laboratory of the institute IIT-Kharagpur. Her area of doctoral research is on nano-fabrication, including soft-lithography, polymer blend films, thin film dewetting and self-assembly.
What is Nanofabrication?
- Nano-fabrication and nano-patterning technology entail developing methods to manufacture nano-materials or pattern materials on a nanometre scale.
- Nano-lithography is a common method used in nano-patterning especially for producing topographically patterned polymer films and surfaces required in the organic electronics.
- Applications: It acts as the mother board for many of the devices and applications such as
- (i) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), (ii) opto-electronic devices, (iii) thin film transistors (TFTs), (iv) biological sensors microfluidics, (v) plastic solar cells, (vi) data storage media, (vii) smart and super adhesives, (viii) lab-on-a-chip devices, (ix) surfaces for nano-biotechnology applications such as patterned substrates for probing of cell behaviour, etc.
Ms. Nandini Bhandaru innovative Research proposes
- Possibility of fabricating nano-scale patterned surfaces at an extremely low cost and by using an inherently simple methodology.
- These surfaces may act as the mother board for many of the devices and applications.
- This technique can be commercialised with minimal capital investment of the fabrication costs of these surfaces.
- The fabrication costs can be reduced to one tenth of the current high end expensive photolithography or electron beam lithography based methods.
Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016