Leuven Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Center

From Discovery to Technology

The Leuven Nanocenter brings the research and development activities of the K.U. Leuven in the areas of Nanosciences and Nanotechnology together. The center is formed by groups from different departments and faculties and disposes of the broadest range of materials and tools for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology available in Flanders. Our mission is to strengthen the interdisciplinary research and development activities by implementing around specific themes the complete innovation chain starting from fundamental knowledge and scientific discoveries towards the implementation of practical solutions and complete systems. Read more ...

Events

• 2011 Taiwan Nano, October 5-7 2011, Taipei, Taiwan
• Graphene 2012, April 10-13 2012, Brussels, Belgium
• Workshop on biomaterials and their interactions with biological and model membranes, 19-23 September 2011, Salou, Spain
• Meta 12, International conference on Metamaterials, photonic crystals and plasmonics. 19-22 April 2012, Paris, France
• 1st EOS Topical Meeting on Micro- and Nano-Optoelectronic Systems, December 7-9 2011, Bremen, Germany
• ICMON 2011 : International Conference on Microelectronics, Optoelectronics, and Nanoelectronics\, November 28-30, 2011, Venice, Italy
• Transparent electrode : What else after ITO? State of the art and future prospects, 21 November 2011, Paris, France
• TNT Trends in Nanotechnology, November 21-25, 2011 Tenerife, Spain
• GISAXS 2011. October 10 - October 12, 2011 at DESY Hamburg, Germany
• Metamaterials '2011: The Fifth International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics, 10-15 October 2011, Barcelona, Spain
• HAXPES 2011 4th International workshop on Hard XPS, 14-16 September 2011, Hamburg, Germany
• Nano and Giga Challenges in Electronics, Photonics and Renewable Energy, September 12-16 2011, Moscow, Russia
• International Symposium on Advanced Complex Inorganic Nanomaterials, September 11-14 2011, Namur, Belgium

Latest Results

All | Nanomagnetism | Superconductivity and fluxonics | Photonics and Photophysics | Electronics and Semiconductors | Catalysis and Reactors | NEMS and Precision Engineering | Nano-Materials | NanoBioSystems

• Low-Temperature, Highly Efficient Growth of Carbon Nanotubes on Functional Materials by an Oxidative Dehydrogenation Reaction
  Posted by Jin Won Seo
  In many applications like photovoltaics, fuel cells, batteries, or interconnects in integrated circuits carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have the role of charge transport electrodes. The building of such devices requires an in situ growth of CNTs at temperatures where the structure or chemical composition of the functional materials is unaltered. We report that in a chemical vapor deposition process involv
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• Controlled Positioning of Carbon Nanotubes by Dielectrophoresis: Insights into the Solvent and Substrate Role
  Posted by Jin Won Seo
  We demonstrate the ability to precisely control the deposition of a defined number of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from solution onto microfabricated electrodes using dielectrophoresis. The solvation shell around the CNTs, exhibiting a high dielectric constant which is possibly larger than the intrinsic dielectric constant of CNTs, is found to play a crucial role in electrophoretic processes. Substrate
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• Direct room-temperature synthesis of methyl-functionalized Ti-MCM-41 nanoparticles and their catalytic performance in epoxidation
  Posted by Paolo Pescarmona
  Methyl-functionalized Ti-MCM-41 nanoparticles with a size of 80 to 160 nm (Me-Ti-MCM-41 NP) were directly prepared via a dilute solution route by the co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane and methylalkoxysilanes in sodium hydroxide medium at room temperature. The characterization results showed the existence of ordered hexagonal mesoporous structure and tetrahedral Ti species in the nanoparticles.
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• Synthesis and catalytic activity of Ti-MCM-41 nanoparticles
  Posted by Paolo Pescarmona
  Ti-MCM-41 nanoparticles 80–160 nm in diameter (Ti-MCM-41 NP) were successfully prepared by a dilute solution route in sodium hydroxide medium at ambient temperature. Ti-MCM-41 NP were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The characterization results showed the existence of highly ordered hexagonal mesoporous structu
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• Fabrication of 3D photonic crystals of ellipsoids: convective self-assembly in a magnetic field
  Posted by Koen Clays
  We have fabricated 3D photonic crystals composed of ellipsoidal particles employing a convective assembly method in the applied magnetic field. The assembled ellipsoids represent a good order with both positional and orientational ordering. As a result, the assembled ellipsoidal superlattice showed strong structural color which is related to the sizes of the ellipsoids. The measured reflection spe
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• Nano-engineering at two length scales: <20 nm for superparamagnetism, >200 nm for photonic bandgap properties, resulting in Faraday rotation in photonic crystals
  Posted by Koen Clays
  We have developed a successful strategy towards colloidal photonic crystals with combined optical and magnetic properties derived from nanoscale engineering of these two properties at different length scale. Superparamagnetic properties were imparted by the synthesis of small (< 20 nm) magnetic maghemite nanoparticles. Optical bandgap properties were induced by the convective self-assembly of la
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• Exploiting Particle Shape in Solid Stabilized Emulsions
  Posted by Jan Vermant
  Pickering–Ramsden emulsions and other forms of particle stabilized soft materials have received quite some attention recently because of the relative ease of formulation and the possibility to create novel materials. There is, however, a clear need for approaches that are versatile and efficient. In the present work the effect of aspect ratio of particles on the stability of both water-in-oil and
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