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Title: River and Mountains

Artists: Zacary Croft and Oscar Valenzuela, Ph.D. Candidates, Chemistry

Tool: LEO (Zeiss) 1550 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

Short Description: “River and Mountains” features a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the surface of a polymer-graphene thin-film, with the polymer facing upward. The polymer featured here is the well-known, high-strength polymer, Kevlar®, which tends to form fibrous structures, and a single-layer of graphene has been added to selectively tune the structure of Kevlar® at the surface of the film, creating a diverse and scenic material “landscape.” The overhead angle of the image provides a bird’s-eye view of this landscape, and color has been added to highlight prominent features of the material and their resemblance to nature, without any additional alterations.

Title: µOrion

Artists: Zacary Croft and Oscar Valenzuela, Ph.D. Candidates, Chemistry

Tool: LEO (Zeiss) 1550 Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

Short Description: “µOrion” (pronounced micro-Orion) features a single layer of graphene covering an underlying polymer layer to create what looks like rolling, sandy dunes. The polymer is the well-known, high-strength polymer, Kevlar®, which tends to form fibrous structures. Some of these Kevlar® fibers have penetrated the graphene to form a micro-sized feature resembling the well-known constellation, Orion, which is highlighted visually with inserted apexes and lines. Just as ancient explorers were once guided through dark and arid deserts by the constellation, so too are modern scientists still encountering him at the micro-scale, reminding us that “as above, so below.”