A new method, developed at the Vienna University of Technology,
uses laser beams to fix molecules at exactly the right position
in a three-dimensional material. The technology will have a
range of applications from growing biological tissue, to
creating microsensors. Many techniques exist for creating three
dimensional objects on a micrometre scale, but until now, there
was no way of attaching molecules at exactly the right place.
The new method, dubbed “3D-photographing” was developed in
collaboration in Vienna between Professor Jürgen Stampfl’s
material science team and Professor Robert Liska’s
macromolecular chemistry research group. The researchers were
able to tune the chemical properties of a material at micrometre
precision using a laser beam. The findings are published in
Advanced Functional Materials. The researchers begin with a
hydrogel – a material made of macromolecules, arranged in a
loose meshwork. Between the macromolecules, large pores remain
which other molecules or even cells are able to mi