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    Advanced Optical Programming of Individual Meta-Atoms Beyond the Effective Medium Approach
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Michel, Ann-Katrin U.; Heßler, Andreas; Meyer, Sebastian; Pries, Julian; Yu, Yuan; Kalix, Thomas; Lewin, Martin; Hanss, Julian; De Rose, Angela; Maß, Tobias W.W.; Wuttig, Matthias; Chigrin, Dmitry N.; Taubner, Thomas
    Nanometer-thick active metasurfaces (MSs) based on phase-change materials (PCMs) enable compact photonic components, offering adjustable functionalities for the manipulation of light, such as polarization filtering, lensing, and beam steering. Commonly, they feature multiple operation states by switching the whole PCM fully between two states of drastically different optical properties. Intermediate states of the PCM are also exploited to obtain gradual resonance shifts, which are usually uniform over the whole MS and described by effective medium response. For programmable MSs, however, the ability to selectively address and switch the PCM in individual meta-atoms is required. Here, simultaneous control of size, position, and crystallization depth of the switched phase-change material (PCM) volume within each meta-atom in a proof-of-principle MS consisting of a PCM-covered Al–nanorod antenna array is demonstrated. By modifying optical properties locally, amplitude and light phase can be programmed at the meta-atom scale. As this goes beyond previous effective medium concepts, it will enable small adaptive corrections to external aberrations and fabrication errors or multiple complex functionalities programmable on the same MS. © 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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    Compartmentalized Jet Polymerization as a High-Resolution Process to Continuously Produce Anisometric Microgel Rods with Adjustable Size and Stiffness
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Krüger, Andreas J.D.; Bakirman, Onur; Guerzoni, Luis P.B.; Jans, Alexander; Gehlen, David B.; Rommel, Dirk; Haraszti, Tamás; Kuehne, Alexander J.C.; De Laporte, Laura
    In the past decade, anisometric rod-shaped microgels have attracted growing interest in the materials-design and tissue-engineering communities. Rod-shaped microgels exhibit outstanding potential as versatile building blocks for 3D hydrogels, where they introduce macroscopic anisometry, porosity, or functionality for structural guidance in biomaterials. Various fabrication methods have been established to produce such shape-controlled elements. However, continuous high-throughput production of rod-shaped microgels with simultaneous control over stiffness, size, and aspect ratio still presents a major challenge. A novel microfluidic setup is presented for the continuous production of rod-shaped microgels from microfluidic plug flow and jets. This system overcomes the current limitations of established production methods for rod-shaped microgels. Here, an on-chip gelation setup enables fabrication of soft microgel rods with high aspect ratios, tunable stiffness, and diameters significantly smaller than the channel diameter. This is realized by exposing jets of a microgel precursor to a high intensity light source, operated at specific pulse sequences and frequencies to induce ultra-fast photopolymerization, while a change in flow rates or pulse duration enables variation of the aspect ratio. The microgels can assemble into 3D structures and function as support for cell culture and tissue engineering. © 2019 DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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    Synthesis of Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)-Based Microgels by Precipitation Polymerization: Pseudo-Bulk Model for Particle Growth and Size Distribution
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2019) Janssen, Franca A.L.; Kather, Michael; Ksiazkiewicz, Agnieszka; Pich, Andrij; Mitsos, Alexander
    Particle size distribution and in particular the mean particle size are key properties of microgels, which are determined by synthesis conditions. To describe particle growth and particle size distribution over the progress of synthesis of poly(N-vinylcaprolactam)-based microgels, a pseudo-bulk model for precipitation copolymerization with cross-linking is formulated. The model is fitted and compared to experimental data from reaction calorimetry and dynamic light scattering, showing good agreement with polymerization progress, final particle size, and narrow particle size distribution. Predictions of particle growth and reaction progress for different experimental setups are compared to the corresponding experimental data, demonstrating the predictive capability and limitations of the model. The comparison to reaction calorimetry measurements shows the strength in the prediction of the overall polymerization progress. The results for the prediction of the particle radii reveal significant deviations and highlight the demand for further investigation, including additional data. Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.