| Posted: Oct 06, 2016 |
The delicate power of soft materials
(Nanowerk News) When Burnaby-based Nanotech Security Corp. was chosen to produce a ticket that incorporated their anti-counterfeiting technology for the 2016 Euro Cup, they turned to SFU’s Centre for Soft Materials (CSM) to help execute the task. A part of the University’s 4D LABS research facility, CSM provides regional companies with the cutting-edge nanofabrication, nanoimaging, and photonics equipment and expertise they need to explore frontiers in new materials. By employing the centre’s assets, the firm created a virtually impossible to counterfeit hologram of “Super Victor", the Union of European Football Association’s mascot, which was then used in the manufacturing of the over six million tickets needed for the games.
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Stunningly, each high-resolution image is the overall effect of two billion holes punched with exacting precision onto a stamp-sized area of plastic film, a task made possible by technology housed at the centre. The hologram effect is created as wavelengths of visible light enter and then refract via the nano-sized holes.
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“For industrial users like us, 4D LABS and the Centre for Soft Materials is the best nanofabrication and characterization facility in North America,” says Clint Landrock, chief technology officer at Nanotech Security and primary inventor of the company’s patented nano-optics technology. “Their model for mixed access with academia and industry works seamlessly and is a model labs the world over should adopt. Our company could never have achieved what we have in such a short time frame without 4D LABS.”
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Heading up the CSM is SFU associate professor of chemistry and former Canada Research Chair in Surface Chemistry, Byron Gates. “The research and development efforts of many students and several local companies have been greatly supported by access to CSM’s facilities,” he says. “It’s another example of SFU’s commitment to training future innovators and enabling innovation in our community.”
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Such companies are using the “soft materials” that increasingly constitute the everyday materials of our lives. Used in sectors such as lighting, IT, medicine, electronics, and clean energy, soft materials include polymers, gels, foams, emulsions, composites, and biological materials, which are used to create products and applications ranging from contact lenses and biodegradable containers, to wearable electronic displays and sensors. However, their delicate nature means they can easily be damaged by traditional electron microscopy equipment.
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And so, the CSM was created at SFU’s Burnaby campus in 2013 to feature a suite of the latest technologies which allow the analyzing, processing and characterizing of soft materials while preserving their nano-scale features. The $12.4-million facility is a partnership between SFU, the Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation and Western Economic Diversification, and is focused on accelerating the design and development of advanced functional materials and nanotechnology products.
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Highly-trained staff are on hand to guide innovators wishing to test advanced soft materials under real-world conditions and the centre regularly hosts workshops in partnership with equipment manufacturers. It has furthered the success of local companies, academic users, and student entrepreneurs, resulting in at least 10 patents and numerous publications relating to new processes in the field. CSM trains undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to become independent users of the equipment, which has positively impacted the research capacity of over 150 students at SFU since 2013.
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