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Research
Synthetic opals may be used as chemical
sensors
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Like real
opals, Foulger's synthetic opals are composed on ordered assemblies
of nanoparticles and possess no intrinsic color, but react
with the light around them.
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 They
will never sparkle on a finger, but synthetic opals could help transform
telecommunications or even save lives, thanks to novel qualities
possessed by the real thing.
The
plastic “opals,” so named because they mimic the interaction
with light exhibited by natural opals, are the research work of
Steve Foulger, an associate professor of materials science and founding
member of Clemson University’s Center for Optical Materials
and Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET). Foulger’s
work helped earn him a National Science Foundation CAREER Award,
the most prestigious award given by NSF to new faculty.
The
plastic opals are a class of photonic materials that use light,
or photons, to carry or process information instead of electrons;
the science is also the basis for today’s optical fiber, high-speed
networks and the driving force behind the Internet. The opals could
also be used to deter possible terrorist threats.
Foulger’s
work could pave the way for fast, reliable and cheap sensors that
sense chemical agents in order to combat their potential use as
instruments of terror. Foulger’s opals -- lab prototypes look
like flexible, half-inch squares of plastic -- dramatically change
colors in the presence of a chemical agent.
“This
field is very explosive,” said Foulger. “Everyone’s
just going down so many paths in nanotechnology.”
Researchers
affiliated with COMSET attracted more than $13 million in sponsored
research during the center’s first four years. Faculty expertise
ranges from materials science and chemistry to physics and entrepreneurial
development. Researchers include Ballato, Foulger, Caron St. John,
Joe Kolis, Dennis Smith, George Chumanov, Phil Brown, Jian Luo,
Jason McNeill and Apparao Rao.
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