Frontier Science Featured at AVS International Symposium in Tampa, Oct. 28 – Nov. 2

Newswise — Preserving historical treasures, self-healing materials, and surfaces that slough off bacteria are just some of the topics from the more than 1,300 intriguing talks that will be presented at the AVS 59th International Symposium & Exhibition.

The symposium will take place Oct. 28 - Nov. 2, 2012, at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla. AVS offers complimentary press registration to journalists; see details below. Journalists may also remotely access meeting information through AVS’s online pressroom.

Symposium highlights, including sessions on solar cells, nanomanufacturing, and designer materials, are summarized below.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 29

Studying Cell Communication with Engineered Surfaces:Fabricating finely structured micro- and nano-scale surfaces helps scientists gain new insights into the language of cell-to-cell communication.“Capturing Cell-Cell Communication on Micro-/Nano-Engineered Surfaces”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=BI-MoM

Protective Coatings for Silver Artifacts:Ultra-thin transparent oxide films could one day protect museums’ priceless silver artifacts.“Atomic Layer Deposition Films as Diffusion Barriers for Silver Artifacts”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=TF-MoM&item=T.TF.S1661

More Precise Heat Flow Control:Current technology can precisely control the flow of electrons and light within a material, but our ability to control the flow of heat has remained primarily stuck at the macroscopic level of fans and insulation. Researchers demonstrate how changing the stiffness of certain bonds within a material could offer more precise control over heat flow. “The Effects of Interfacial Bond Stiffness on Heat Transport: An Experimental Study Using Self-Assembled Monolayers”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=SE+NS-MoA

Novel Materials for MEMS Devices:Researchers fabricate microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) out of new materials with the help of carbon nanotube forests.“Carbon Nanotube Templated MEMS: Three-Dimensional Microstructures in Semiconductors, Ceramics, and Metals”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=MN+AS-MoM

High Efficiency Quantum Dot Solar Cells:Traditional semiconductors used in photovoltaic devices produce one electron from each absorbed photon. Incorporating quantum dots into solar cells can energize multiple electrons per photon, boosting efficiency. “Quantum Dot Solar Cells with External Quantum Efficiency Exceeding 100% by Multiple Exciton Generation”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=EN%2BNS-MoM&item=T.EN.S1764

Custom Catalysts:By building nanostructures bit by bit, researchers create and test custom catalysts to speed up chemical reactions.“Atomic Layer Deposition for the Synthesis of Nanostructured Catalysts”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=TF+EN-MoA

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30

Self-Healing Materials: Scientists explore self-healing behavior in a wide range of materials and discuss how self-healing concepts can be used to mitigate damage in both ceramics and polymers.“Self-Healing Materials: A New Approach to Make Materials Perform More Reliably under Harsh Conditions”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=TR+BI-TuM

3-D DNA Nanostructures:Three-dimensional structures made of DNA hold the potential to encapsulate and release drugs, selectively trap nanomaterials, and regulate the activity of proteins. Synthetic molecules that control and modify DNA self-assembly offer a new approach to building DNA nanostructures. “Three-Dimensional DNA Nanostructures for Biological and Materials Applications”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=NS+EN+GR-TuA

Treating Water with Plasma:Researchers have developed a large volume plasma source that can treat water under ambient air conditions.“Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge for Point-of-Use Water Treatment”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=SE+PS-TuAWEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31

Tuning Optical Properties for New Applications in Solid-State Lighting and Solar Photovoltaics:Using recently developed technology, researchers can create materials with a controllable refractive index, a fundamental optical property. This has opened the door to a host of new applications and devices. “Tunable-Refractive-Index Materials – A New Class of Optical Thin-Film Materials with Applications in Solid- State Lighting and Solar Photovoltaics”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=TF+SE+NS-WeMImproving Viral Therapy to Treat Cancer:Some viruses preferentially infect cancer cells. A group of researchers has studied a way to encapsulate the viruses to minimize the immune system’s response and enhance the effectiveness of viral therapy in treating cancer.“Viral Encapsulation in Lecithin Liposomes to Enhance the Therapeutic Effect of Oncolytic Viral Therapy”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=BI%2BSS%2BNS-WeM&item=T.SS.S1570

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Flat Silicon:Silicon is vital to the electronics industry. A new study shows how a particular crystal orientation of near-atomically flat silicon can be produced in a beaker at room-temperature – a long standing technological goal. “Turning STM Images Into Chemical Understanding: Atomically Flat Si(100) Reveals the Mechanism of Silicon Oxidation”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=NS-ThM

Materials That Resist Bacterial Adhesion:Medical implants can become coated with films of bacteria, which make it more difficult for the immune system and antibiotics to kill the unwanted colonizers. Scientists have developed materials that resist this bacterial adhesion.“Combinatorial Discovery of Materials That Resist Bacterial Adhesion”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=MB+BI-ThM

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Tackling Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion:A team brings together material scientists, microbiologists, chemists, and engineers to tackle the problem of microbes that speed up corrosion.“A Multidisciplinary Approach to Tackling Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion”http://www.avssymposium.org/Schedule/SessionSchedule.aspx?sessionCode=MB+BI-ThAMORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AVS 59th INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM & EXHIBITION

The Tampa Convention Center is located along the Riverwalk in the heart of downtown Tampa at 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa, Florida, 33602.

USEFUL LINKS:

Main meeting website: http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS59/pages/greetings.htmlTechnical Program: http://www.avssymposium.org/ Housing and Travel Information: http://www2.avs.org/symposium/AVS59/pages/housing_travel.html

PRESS REGISTRATION

The AVS Pressroom will be located in the Tampa Convention Center. Your complimentary media badge will allow you to utilize the pressroom to write, interview, collect new product releases, review material, or just relax. The media badge will also admit you, free of charge, into the exhibit area, lectures, and technical sessions, as well as the Welcome Mixer on Monday evening and the Awards Ceremony and Reception on Wednesday night. Pressroom hours are Monday-Thursday, 8-5 p.m.

To register, please complete the media registration form (available online at http://www.avs.org/PDF/pressinvite.pdf) and fax or e-mail by October 15 to:

Della Miller, AVS Fax: 530-896-0487 E-mail: [email protected]

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This news release was prepared for AVS by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

ABOUT AVSFounded in 1953, AVS is a not-for-profit professional society that promotes communication between academia, government laboratories, and industry for the purpose of sharing research and development findings over a broad range of technologically relevant topics. Its symposia and journals provide an important forum for the dissemination of information in many areas of science and technology, enabling a critical gateway for the rapid insertion of scientific breakthroughs into manufacturing realities.