Sol-gel molding: a new observation method of multiscaled structures. (2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thomé, M.; Nicole, L.; Berthier, S.
• Is Part Of: Materials today. Volume 4:Number 4(2017)Part A
• Page Start: 5013
• Page End: 5022
• Publication Date: 2017
• Subjects: Sol-gel process -- Morpho butterfly wing -- Replicas -- Photonic structures -- Characterization method -- Microribs; Materials science -- Congresses -- Periodicals; 620.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2017.04.108
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2214-7853

Abstract

Abstract: During the twentieth century, many new methods have been developed to observe the structuration of matter. This development was necessary in particular to study new scales: the microscopic and nanoscopic ones. Electronic microscopes, X-Ray tomography, and other tools allowed, for example in materials science, to discover new structures and their associated properties. Several of these methods are also often used to characterize the same sample, providing different complementary information and improving the knowledge of the sample. In this paper, we propose to underline another complementary way to study in details the structuration of a material. This way is to make an inverse replica, in other words a molding of the studied structure. Our method consists, more precisely, in using a sol-gel solution deposition technique and can reveal details that are difficult to see with microscopes. It is particularly well adapted to nanostructured and/or multiscaled materials. As an example, a molding of a Morpho menelaus butterfly wing is presented. It highlights the periodicity of the smallest and often neglected structure of the wing: the microribs.