Highlights from the "Art of Science" Image Contest

Displayed in the NUANCE Lobby, Tech AB Wing

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#	Title	Creator	Instrument
1	Nanogarden	Abdul Bamba	FEI Quanta 650
	Description: In a nanograss meadow, metallic flowers rise. (Colorized by Hyeonseon Choi)
2	A Meteorite Born in the Furnace	Koushik Medhi	JEOL 7900-FLV
	Description: A polycrystalline medium-entropy sodium-based telluride synthesized through a solid-state reaction.
3	The Golden Nano-duckling	Yongfa Cheng	JEOL ARM200CF
	Description: This image features a copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticle that serendipitously formed the unmistakable shape of a rubber duck. Captured under the EPIC TEM, the lacey carbon support grid is reimagined as a deep blue microscopic pond. Through traditional colorization techniques, the particle is brought to life as a golden duck swimming alongside imaginative micro-organisms, highlighting the playful and whimsical aesthetic hidden at the nanoscale.
4	Into the µnknown	Luis Fernando Ayala	Hitachi SU8030
	Description: What looks like an ice crystal from Elsa’s palace is actually a gold nanostructured microelectrode used for electrochemical sensing. An applied potential reduces gold ions from an aqueous gold chloride solution, producing sharp features that grow outward from the electrode surface.
5	Pillars of Creation	Jacob Newmark	Hitachi SU8030
	Description: Inspired by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope’s image of the same name, showcasing columns of interstellar gas and dust, the intricate microstructural surface topography has been reimagined as these deep-space formations. The microscope’s depth of field reveals a range of elevations and textures on the material surface, highlighted as the newly formed stars in the original image.
6	Branch of Life	Aarti Patel	FEI Quanta 650
	Description: This is an image of human placental villi. This structure is the barrier between maternal and fetal circulation.
7	Star Atlas	Alp Kulaksizoglu	Hitachi SU8700
	Description: Near-axis transmission kikuchi diffraction pattern of a nanoparticle featuring Kikuchi lines and Bragg spots (bottom middle) that look like stars.
8	Succulents in Nanoscale	Qianhui Wang	Hitachi SU8030
	Description: Maybe the SEM chamber is very drought. Many MOF crystallites tend to aggregate and form succulents under the microscope.
9	Canoeing in the Mangroves	Haley Wellman	JEOL 7900-FLV
	Description: This is an image of a bimetallic metal-organic framework with both Ce and Ti.
10	Trick or Treat?	Haomiao Xie	Hitachi SU8030
	Description: The metastable “ghost” phases of metal-organic framework NU-1000 were removed by post-synthetic modification and created ghost faces on our nano pumpkin candies! Knock knock, “Trick or treat?”
11	The Starry Night	Yasemin Cimen Mutlu	Hitachi S-4800
	Description: SEM image of Metal Organic Framework/Bacterial Cellulose Composite
12	NanoEarth	Nicholas Gogola	Hitachi SU8700
	Description: Cross-sectional view of a polymer thin film with a spherical particle on the outer surface
13	Little Rock Candy Mountains	Tirzah Abbott
	Description: This image depicts calcite crystals that have precipitated on the surface of a fossil radiolarian. A radiolarian is a marine micro invertebrate that has a shell made of amorphous SiO2.
14	The Little Prince's Planet	Yiran Wang	Hitachi SU8030
	Description: The SEM image is taken on crystals of a 2D layered mofs and the crystals are intergrown. The crystals shaped like a planet and the debris on the big crystals look like a human laying down. It reminds me of a french novella, the little prince, talking about a little boy lives on a small planet with his rose and he always looks into the sky to imagine the universe.
15	Spikeball	Shelby Yuan	Hitachi 4800
	Description:  Scanning electron micrograph of hyaluronic acid and peptide amphiphile hybrid materials. Hyaluronic acid is a natural polymer widely abundant in the human skin and cartilage. Peptide amphiphiles are a unique class of molecules that self-assemble into high-aspect-ratio nanostructures and can function as building blocks for a variety of nanoengineering applications. Here, hyaluronic acid particles were hydrated with a solution of peptide amphiphile supramolecular nanofibers and formed into a biocompatible hydrogel.
16	Cell Awakening	Fatemeh Esmaeili	Hitachi SU8030
	Description: This image captures the interaction between spiky gold nanoparticles and a T-cell, illustrating the initial steps toward cellular activation. These activated immune cells play a critical role in cancer immunotherapy, offering potential in targeted cancer treatment. This image was captured in collaboration with Vuslat Juska.
17	Pearl in a Shell	Elizabeth King	Hitachi 3400
	Description: This microfossil was imaged with the Hitachi 3400’s 4-segment backscatter detector.