http://www.europhysicsnews.org/articles/epn/abs/2016/05/contents/contents.html
Author: claudio
Graphene Pagurus in the Corriere della Sera !
Solitonization of the Anderson localization
Solitons and disorder-induced Anderson states are two apparently unrelated forms of wave localization, the former being due to nonlinearity and the latter to linear disorder.
However, on closer inspection, solitons and disorder induced localized states have similarities: exponential localization, negative eigenvalues, any possible position in space. In the presence of nonlinearity, disorder-induced localizations are expected to have eigenvalue and localization length dependent on power. These states, however, also exist for a negligible nonlinearity: Hence, in the low fluence regime, they are linear Anderson localizations, but at high fluence, they become related to solitons.
In Physical Review A, we analytically and numerically study the process of “solitonization of the Anderson localization,” that is smooth transition from disorder induced to nonlinearity induced wave localization in random media.
Antibacterial action of graphene oxide, web and press release
Graphene Pagurus Versus Super Bugs
The super bugs are the plague of modern era. Super bugs are antibiotic resistant bacteria that will cause the death of thousands of people in the future. We need novel tools to sterilize surfaces and medical equipment; we also need novel approaches to defeat bacteria.
Within a collaboration with the University Cattolica, we recently reported in Scientific Reports on a novel “cloak” against super bugs. The cloak is a laser printed surface that includes graphene oxide. The cloak is able to kill the bacteria because the surface mimics the carapace of the Cancer Pagurus (picture above), which is known to repel dangerous organisms, and also uses graphene as a blade that cuts the bacteria (and also wrap and poison them), as in the following picture
The cloak is a novel very effective solution to sterilize surfaces, and our research sheds light on the effect of graphene against bacteria. We report 90% bacteria killing action.
Web release
http://www.graphene-info.com/graphene-oxide-helps-creating-antibacterial-cloack
http://lucbourne.scienceblog.com/74/treating-biofilms-to-an-antimicrobial-cloak/