Research news
SUTD researchers developed new methods to create microfluidic devices with fluoropolymers
A research team from the SUTD developed a simple method to fabricate microchannels using fluoropolymers.
SUTD researchers developed customizable microfluidic nozzles…
Researchers from the SUTD developed a modular approach to fabricate microfluidic axisymmetric droplet generators with distinct modules of 3D printed fittings, needles and tubes.
NTU and SUTD researchers discover asymmetric chemical reaction with intriguing reaction pathways
In essence, this work communicates a new synthetic ‘tool’ for chemists which operates in an unconventional and intriguing manner, paving the way for the design of other asymmetric reactions based on halogen-bonding interactions.
Multimaterial 3D printing used to develop fast response stiffness-tunable soft actuator
Researchers from the SUTD and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) proposed a paradigm to use finite-element simulations and hybrid multimaterial 3D printing to design and manufacture fast-response, stiffness-tunable (FRST) soft actuators which are able to complete a softening-stiffening cycle within 32 seconds.
Holographic color printing for optical security
Unlike regular diffractive optical elements that have a frosted-glass appearance and projects only single images, these new holographic colour prints can be a stronger deterrent to counterfeiters while looking pretty at the same time.
Researchers resolve a major mystery in 2D material electronics
SUTD researchers have discovered a one-size-fits-all master equation that shall pave the way towards better design of 2D material electronics.
Enantioselective 1,2-Anionotropic Rearrangement of Acylsilane through a Bisguanidinium Silicate Ion Pair
Researchers from NTU (Prof. Choon-Hong Tan) and SUTD (Dr. Richmond Lee) have published a collaborative work on the high impact Journal of American Chemical Society. The work centers on asymmetric acylsilane rearrangement by a bisguanidine ion-pair catalyst. Experiments were first carried out by the NTU lab and computational studies followed in SUTD. Importantly, this paper offers a major step forward in asymmetric silicon chemistry and understanding of its reaction mechanism.
For the full article, please refer to https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.7b13056
Half-Sandwich Ruthenium Phenolate–Oxazoline Complexes: Experimental and Theoretical Studies in Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Nitroarene
Combined experimental and theoretical studies on a half-sandwich ruthenium catalyst’s reactivity were carried out by our cluster’s faculty fellow Dr. Richmond Lee and his long-standing collaborator Prof. Weiguo Jia from the Anhui Normal University, China. This paper examines the role of the catalyst class towards transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes to anilines which is very relevant to chemical industries. Mechanistic insights gained with theoretical studies could further strengthen the design of more efficient catalysts which is the ultimate aim of Richmond’s research goals here at SUTD. This is his first work as a corresponding author in SUTD published in a major peer-reviewed journal in the field of organometallics.
Breaking the Speed Limits of Phase-Change Memory
The Loke group is very humbled to receive a Web of Science Index’s “Highly Cited Paper” honor for our lab’s effort to make Big Data more accessible for everyone.
Tiny Fluorescent Temperature Sensors with Super-Reliability
Assistant Professor Liu Xiaogang’s group (SUTD/SMT) has developed a new design strategy to build highly reliable fluorescent temperature sensors, in collaboration with Assistant Professor Michinao Hashimoto (SUTD/EPD) and Professor Xu Zhaochao’s group from Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Fluorescent temperature sensors accurately measure temperature changes in microenvironments with high speeds. However, their accuracy is often compromised as fluorescent dyes degrade (or become photo-bleached) under repetitive laser irradiations.
Professor Liu’s team solves the reliability problem by selecting semi-rigid fluorescent dyes that behave like a “transformer”. These “transformers” possess multiple molecular conformations that emit different colors of fluorescence. Relative populations of these molecular conformations are governed by temperature changes. Consequently, the ratio of their emission intensities accurately quantifies temperature changes. Moreover, this ratio is not affected by dye degradation, since the degradation proportionally reduces the quantities of various conformations in these molecular “transformers”.
Their research work has been published in Materials Chemistry Frontier as an Invited Article. Dr. Chi Weijie, a postdoctoral research associated from SUTD, is the first author of this paper. (Image: fluorescence images of a SUTD-shaped microfluidic channel. The intensity ratio of the blue and green channels of this color image affords accurate temperature information)
