Flinders University researchers have found a cost-effective polymer that responds to low-power, visible light lasers.

This invention offers a cheaper and safer way to produce nanotech, chemical science, and biological application surface patterns.

Electronics, data storage, and high-tech biomedical products are frequently made by modifying polymer surfaces with high-power lasers.

A new system was recently described in an article published in the prestigious chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The system has a small replica of the Mona Lisa painting made with a laser and micro-braille printing.

According to Justin Chalker, a Chemistry Professor at Flinders University, using more environmentally friendly materials and reducing the need for expensive, specialized equipment like high-power lasers (which can be harmful) could be a solution. For example, the main polymer is derived from either cyclopentadiene or dicyclopentadiene and inexpensive elemental sulfur, an industrial byproduct.

Dr. Chalker from Flinders University Institute for NanoScale Science and Engineering used the easy synthesis and laser modification of these photo-sensitive polymer systems for applications such as direct-write laser lithography and erasable information storage.

The polymer quickly creates various shapes when the laser light touches the surface.

While analyzing a polymer created in the Chalker Lab in 2022, Dr. Christopher Gibson, a researcher from Flinders University, made a surprising discovery.