Each month, the ISGS Newsletter features an interesting and striking micrograph (or series of micrographs) chosen from a recent issue of the Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology or from unpublished sources such as PhD theses, etc (with full attribution given). If you know of any interesting images that might be suitable, please contact the ISGS Newsletter Editor for inclusion. The micrographs can be optical, SEM, TEM, AFM, etc, and a brief description of the samples should be provided
This month’s images were taken from two different papers in the Special Edition of JSST featuring work presented at the 20 th International Sol-Gel Conference held in St Petersburg during August 2019, highlighting the rich diversity of the areas in which sol-gel science and technology is impacting.
The first is from the work of Drozdov, Prilepskii, Koltsova, Anastasova and Vinogradov entitled “Magnetic polyelectrolyte-based composites with dual anticoagulant and thrombolytic properties: towards optimal composition” (JSST, 95(3), 771-782 (2020)). The micrographs illustrate the structure and morphology of magnetite nanoparticles, together with their behaviour as a magnetic fluid, which are used to explore the concept of magnetic polyelectrolyte-based thrombolytics.
The second is from the work of Desponds, Banyasz, Montagnac, Andraud, Baldeck and Parola entitled “Microfabrication by two-photon lithography, and characterization, of SiO2 /TiO 2 based hybrid and ceramic microstructures” (JSST, 95(3), 733–745(2020)). In this work, the effect of precursor chemistry on the resolution achieved during 3D printing of sub-micron features in ceramic grids using a two-photon laser absorption process is investigated. The micrographs illustrate the effect of increasing the Ti:Si mole ratio in the precursor sol formulation from 0.4 to 1 on the quality of the grids obtained.
