In an exemplary method, a nano-architectured carbon structure is fabricated by forming a unit (e.g., a film) of a liquid carbon-containing starting material and at least one dopant. A surface of the unit is nano-molded using a durable mold that is pre-formed with a pattern of nano-concavities corresponding to a desired pattern of nano-features to be formed by the mold on the surface of the unit. After nano-molding the surface of the unit, the first unit is stabilized to render the unit and its formed nano-structures capable of surviving downstream steps. The mold is removed from the first surface to form a nano-molded surface of a carbonization precursor. The precursor is carbonized in an inert-gas atmosphere at a suitable high temperature to form a corresponding nano-architectured carbon structure. A principal use of the nano-architectured carbon structure is a carbon electrode used in, e.g., Li-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices.

A method of producing an electroconductive substrate including a base material, and an electroconductive pattern disposed on one main surface side of the base material includes: a step of forming a trench including a bottom surface to which a foundation layer is exposed, and a lateral surface which includes a surface of a trench formation layer, according to an imprint method; and a step of forming an electroconductive pattern layer by growing metal plating from the foundation layer which is exposed to the bottom surface of the trench.

The invention relates to imparting surfaces with nanometer sized structures that provide bactericidal properties to the surface and devices. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a bactericidal surface with nanometer sized pillars created by imprinting a softened polymer surface with a mold. In another embodiment, the nanometer sized pillars are part of a medical device with antibacterial properties.

A method of producing an electroconductive substrate including a base material, and an electroconductive pattern disposed on one main surface side of the base material includes: a step of forming a trench including a bottom surface to which a foundation layer is exposed, and a lateral surface which includes a surface of a trench formation layer, according to an imprint method; and a step of forming an electroconductive pattern layer by growing metal plating from the foundation layer which is exposed to the bottom surface of the trench.

A method of patterning a conductive layer to form transparent electrical conductors that does not require etching is disclosed. The method includes peeling a strippable polymer layer from a substrate coated with the conductive layer to pattern the conductive layer. In some embodiments, a resist matrix material is patterned over the conductive layer to prevent removal of the conductive layer beneath the resist matrix material. In other embodiments, a liner having a pressure sensitive adhesive surface is brought into contact with the patterned strippable polymer material to remove both the patterned strippable polymer material and the conductive layer beneath it.

A framework for a replication device for producing nanostructured and/or microstructured components forms a gimbal suspension. In addition, a replication device is provided including such a framework. Further, a method is described for producing nanostructured and/or microstructured components by imprint lithography using a replication device.

A method of producing an electroconductive substrate including a base material, and an electroconductive pattern disposed on one main surface side of the base material includes: a step of forming a trench including a bottom surface to which a foundation layer is exposed, and a lateral surface which includes a surface of a trench formation layer, according to an imprint method; and a step of forming an electroconductive pattern layer by growing metal plating from the foundation layer which is exposed to the bottom surface of the trench.

An epitaxial structure and a method for making the same are provided. The epitaxial structure includes a substrate, an epitaxial layer and a carbon nanotube layer. The epitaxial layer is located on the substrate. The carbon nanotube layer is located in the epitaxial layer. The method includes following. A substrate having an epitaxial growth surface is provided. A carbon nanotube layer is suspended above the epitaxial growth surface. An epitaxial layer is epitaxially grown from the epitaxial growth surface to enclose the carbon nanotube layer therein. The epitaxial layer is a substantially homogenous material from the substrate.

Discrete microstructures of predefined size and shape are prepared using sol-gel phase-reversible hydrogel templates. An aqueous solution of hydrogel-forming material is covered onto a microfabricated silicon wafer master template having predefined microfeatures, such as pillars. A hydrogel template is formed, usually by lowering the temperature, and the formed hydrogel template is peeled away from the silicon master template. The wells of predefined size and shape on the hydrogel template are filled with a solution or a paste of a water-insoluble polymer, and the solvent is removed to form solid structures. The formed microstructures are released from the hydrogel template by simply melting the hydrogel template in water. The microstructures are collected by centrifugation. The microstructures fabricated by this method exhibit pre-defined size and shape that exactly correspond to the microwells of the hydrogel template. The method of preparing microstructures based on hydrogel templates is simple and can easily produce large quantities of the microstructures.

The disclosure relates to methods of printing indicia on a substrate using a tip array comprised of elastomeric, compressible polymers. The tip array can be prepared using conventional photolithographic methods and can be tailored to have any desired number and/or arrangement of tips. Numerous copies (e.g., greater than 15,000, or greater than 11 million) of a pattern can be made in a parallel fashion in as little as 40 minutes.