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Micromachines
Special Issues
C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon
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C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E：Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 13158

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Monsur Islam

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Guest Editor
Institute for Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Interests: nanomanufacturing; microfabrication; carbon-based devices; sensors; functional materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kunal Mondal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Materials Science and Engineering Department, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, USA
2. Affiliate Faculty & Allied Graduate Faculty, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, USA
Interests: nano-food technology; food nutrition; food safety; biomaterials; biosensor
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Dario Mager

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Interests: low-cost MEMS devices; extreme point-of-care systems; embedded systems in PoC
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Stephan Keller

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Centre for Nano Fabrication and Characterization, DTU Nanolab, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Building 345B, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Interests: 3D Carbon microelectrodes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon is a fascinating material that can exist in the form of a variety of allotropes, including graphene, carbon nanotube, glassy carbon, diamond, amorphous carbon, and quantum dots. Advances in microsystems and nanoengineering have allowed for the use of these carbon allotropes with tunable properties in functional devices for a wide range of applications, including energy systems, sensors and actuators, environmental monitoring, and biomedical and point-of-care devices. Furthermore, carbon-based micro-/nano-technology is a viable alternative to the modern silicon-based MEMS technology. However, the unprecedented operational and performance requirements of various applications seeks further technological development for carbon-based micro-/nano-systems in order to achieve superior and novel functionalities.

In this context, this Special Issue of Micromachines titled “C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon” invites authors to submit original research articles, communications, and reviews that aim to highlight the technological advances of carbon micro-/nano-systems and their applications. Both experimental and theoretical studies are welcome for submission to this Special Issue.

Dr. Monsur Islam
Dr. Kunal Mondal
Dr. Dario Mager
Prof. Dr. Stephan Keller
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • carbon materials
  • carbon nanotube
  • graphene
  • glassy carbon
  • microfabrication of carbon devices
  • porous carbon
  • micro-/nano-systems of carbon
  • energy materials
  • tissue engineering scaffolds
  • sensors
  • carbon composites
  • flexible carbon devices

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2775 KiB  
Article
Comparing Carbon Origami from Polyaramid and Cellulose Sheets
by Monsur Islam, Peter G. Weidler, Dario Mager, Jan G. Korvink and Rodrigo Martinez-Duarte
Micromachines 2022, 13(4), 503; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13040503 - 24 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1886
Abstract
Carbon origami enables the fabrication of lightweight and mechanically stiff 3D complex architectures of carbonaceous materials, which have a high potential to impact a wide range of applications positively. The precursor materials and their inherent microstructure play a crucial role in determining the [...] Read more.
Carbon origami enables the fabrication of lightweight and mechanically stiff 3D complex architectures of carbonaceous materials, which have a high potential to impact a wide range of applications positively. The precursor materials and their inherent microstructure play a crucial role in determining the properties of carbon origami structures. Here, non-porous polyaramid Nomex sheets and macroporous fibril cellulose sheets are explored as the precursor sheets for studying the effect of precursor nature and microstructure on the material and structural properties of the carbon origami structures. The fabrication process involves pre-creasing precursor sheets using a laser engraving process, followed by manual-folding and carbonization. The cellulose precursor experiences a severe structural shrinkage due to its macroporous fibril morphology, compared to the mostly non-porous morphology of Nomex-derived carbon. The morphological differences further yield a higher specific surface area for cellulose-derived carbon. However, Nomex results in more crystalline carbon than cellulose, featuring a turbostratic microstructure like glassy carbon. The combined effect of morphology and glass-like features leads to a high mechanical stiffness of 1.9 ± 0.2 MPa and specific modulus of 2.4 × 104 m2·s−2 for the Nomex-derived carbon Miura-ori structure, which are significantly higher than cellulose-derived carbon Miura-ori (elastic modulus = 504.7 ± 88.2 kPa; specific modulus = 1.2 × 104 m2·s−2) and other carbonaceous origami structures reported in the literature. The results presented here are promising to expand the material library for carbon origami, which will help in the choice of suitable precursor and carbon materials for specific applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon)
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14 pages, 3123 KiB  
Article
Selective Passivation of Three-Dimensional Carbon Microelectrodes by Polydopamine Electrodeposition and Local Laser Ablation
by Babak Rezaei, Saloua Saghir, Jesper Yue Pan, Rasmus Schmidt Davidsen and Stephan Sylvest Keller
Micromachines 2022, 13(3), 371; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13030371 - 26 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2262
Abstract
In this article, a novel approach for selective passivation of three-dimensional pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes via a facile electrochemical polymerization of a non-conductive polymer (polydopamine, PDA) onto the surface of carbon electrodes, followed by a selective laser ablation is elaborated. The 3D carbon electrodes [...] Read more.
In this article, a novel approach for selective passivation of three-dimensional pyrolytic carbon microelectrodes via a facile electrochemical polymerization of a non-conductive polymer (polydopamine, PDA) onto the surface of carbon electrodes, followed by a selective laser ablation is elaborated. The 3D carbon electrodes consisting of 284 micropillars on a circular 2D carbon base layer were fabricated by pyrolysis of lithographically patterned negative photoresist SU-8. As a second step, dopamine was electropolymerized onto the electrode by cyclic voltammetry (CV) to provide an insulating layer at its surface. The CV parameters, such as the scan rate and the number of cycles, were investigated and optimized to achieve a reliable and uniform non-conductive coating on the surface of the 3D pyrolytic carbon electrode. Finally, the polydopamine was selectively removed only from the tips of the pillars, by using localized laser ablation. The selectively passivated electrodes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods. Due to the surface being composed of highly biocompatible materials, such as pyrolytic carbon and polydopamine, these 3D electrodes are particularly suited for biological application, such as electrochemical monitoring of cells or retinal implants, where highly localized electrical stimulation of nerve cells is beneficial. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon)
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10 pages, 2579 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of High Surface Area Microporous ZnO from ZnO/Carbon Sacrificial Composite Monolith Template
by Kunal Mondal, Monsur Islam, Srujan Singh and Ashutosh Sharma
Micromachines 2022, 13(2), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13020335 - 20 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2686
Abstract
Fabrication of porous materials from the standard sacrificial template method allows metal oxide nanostructures to be produced and have several applications in energy, filtration and constructing sensing devices. However, the low surface area of these nanostructures is a significant drawback for most applications. [...] Read more.
Fabrication of porous materials from the standard sacrificial template method allows metal oxide nanostructures to be produced and have several applications in energy, filtration and constructing sensing devices. However, the low surface area of these nanostructures is a significant drawback for most applications. Here, we report the synthesis of ZnO/carbon composite monoliths in which carbon is used as a sacrificial template to produce zinc oxide (ZnO) porous nanostructures with a high specific surface area. The synthesized porous oxides of ZnO with a specific surface area of 78 m2/g are at least one order of magnitude higher than that of the ZnO nanotubes reported in the literature. The crucial point to achieving this remarkable result was the usage of a novel ZnO/carbon template where the carbon template was removed by simple heating in the air. As a high surface area porous nanostructured ZnO, these synthesized materials can be useful in various applications including catalysis, photocatalysis, separation, sensing, solar energy harvest and Zn-ion battery and as supercapacitors for energy storage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon)
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12 pages, 2949 KiB  
Article
In-Situ Integration of 3D C-MEMS Microelectrodes with Bipolar Exfoliated Graphene for Label-Free Electrochemical Cancer Biomarkers Aptasensor
by Shahrzad Forouzanfar, Nezih Pala and Chunlei Wang
Micromachines 2022, 13(1), 104; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13010104 - 09 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3234
Abstract
The electrochemical label-free aptamer-based biosensors (also known as aptasensors) are highly suitable for point-of-care applications. The well-established C-MEMS (carbon microelectromechanical systems) platforms have distinguishing features which are highly suitable for biosensing applications such as low background noise, high capacitance, high stability when exposed [...] Read more.
The electrochemical label-free aptamer-based biosensors (also known as aptasensors) are highly suitable for point-of-care applications. The well-established C-MEMS (carbon microelectromechanical systems) platforms have distinguishing features which are highly suitable for biosensing applications such as low background noise, high capacitance, high stability when exposed to different physical/chemical treatments, biocompatibility, and good electrical conductivity. This study investigates the integration of bipolar exfoliated (BPE) reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with 3D C-MEMS microelectrodes for developing PDGF-BB (platelet-derived growth factor-BB) label-free aptasensors. A simple setup has been used for exfoliation, reduction, and deposition of rGO on the 3D C-MEMS microelectrodes based on the principle of bipolar electrochemistry of graphite in deionized water. The electrochemical bipolar exfoliation of rGO resolves the drawbacks of commonly applied methods for synthesis and deposition of rGO, such as requiring complicated and costly processes, excessive use of harsh chemicals, and complex subsequent deposition procedures. The PDGF-BB affinity aptamers were covalently immobilized by binding amino-tag terminated aptamers and rGO surfaces. The turn-off sensing strategy was implemented by measuring the areal capacitance from CV plots. The aptasensor showed a wide linear range of 1 pM–10 nM, high sensitivity of 3.09 mF cm−2 Logc−1 (unit of c, pM), and a low detection limit of 0.75 pM. This study demonstrated the successful and novel in-situ deposition of BPE-rGO on 3D C-MEMS microelectrodes. Considering the BPE technique’s simplicity and efficiency, along with the high potential of C-MEMS technology, this novel procedure is highly promising for developing high-performance graphene-based viable lab-on-chip and point-of-care cancer diagnosis technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon)
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13 pages, 3230 KiB  
Article
Distinct Roles of Tensile and Compressive Stresses in Graphitizing and Properties of Carbon Nanofibers
by Yujia Liu, Edmund Lau, Dario Mager, Marc J. Madou and Maziar Ghazinejad
Micromachines 2021, 12(9), 1096; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12091096 - 11 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1975
Abstract
It is generally accepted that inducing molecular alignment in a polymer precursor via mechanical stresses influences its graphitization during pyrolysis. However, our understanding of how variations of the imposed mechanics can influence pyrolytic carbon microstructure and functionality is inadequate. Developing such insight is [...] Read more.
It is generally accepted that inducing molecular alignment in a polymer precursor via mechanical stresses influences its graphitization during pyrolysis. However, our understanding of how variations of the imposed mechanics can influence pyrolytic carbon microstructure and functionality is inadequate. Developing such insight is consequential for different aspects of carbon MEMS manufacturing and applicability, as pyrolytic carbons are the main building blocks of MEMS devices. Herein, we study the outcomes of contrasting routes of stress-induced graphitization by providing a comparative analysis of the effects of compressive stress versus standard tensile treatment of PAN-based carbon precursors. The results of different materials characterizations (including scanning electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, as well as high-resolution transmission electron microscopy) reveal that while subjecting precursor molecules to both types of mechanical stresses will induce graphitization in the resulting pyrolytic carbon, this effect is more pronounced in the case of compressive stress. We also evaluated the mechanical behavior of three carbon types, namely compression-induced (CIPC), tension-induced (TIPC), and untreated pyrolytic carbon (PC) by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) of carbon samples in their as-synthesized mat format. Using DMA, the elastic modulus, ultimate tensile strength, and ductility of CIPC and TIPC films are determined and compared with untreated pyrolytic carbon. Both stress-induced carbons exhibit enhanced stiffness and strength properties over untreated carbons. The compression-induced films reveal remarkably larger mechanical enhancement with the elastic modulus 26 times higher and tensile strength 2.85 times higher for CIPC compared to untreated pyrolytic carbon. However, these improvements come at the expense of lowered ductility for compression-treated carbon, while tension-treated carbon does not show any loss of ductility. The results provided by this report point to the ways that the carbon MEMS industry can improve and revise the current standard strategies for manufacturing and implementing carbon-based micro-devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue C-MEMS: Microstructure, Shapes, and Applications in Carbon)
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