Patents by Inventor Michael Aizenberg

Michael Aizenberg has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20140328999
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes a strategy to create self-healing, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) that can be modified as desired. Roughened (e.g., porous) surfaces can be utilized to lock in place a lubricating fluid, referred to herein as Liquid B to repel a wide range of objects, referred to herein as Object A (Solid A or Liquid A). Use of an external stimuli or degradation of the Liquid B can be utilized to change the characteristics of SLIPS structures reversibly or irreversibly that may be desired in a number of different applications. Numerous characteristics, such as adhesion, optical, mechanical, and the like, can be dynamically changed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2014
    Publication date: November 6, 2014
    Applicant: PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Joanna AIZENBERG, Benjamin HATTON, Xi YAO, Michael AIZENBERG, Wendong WANG
  • Publication number: 20140290732
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes a strategy to create self-healing, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). Roughened (e.g., porous) surfaces can be utilized to lock in place a lubricating fluid, referred to herein as Liquid B to repel a wide range of materials, referred to herein as Object A (Solid A or Liquid A). SLIPS outperforms other conventional surfaces in its capability to repel various simple and complex liquids (water, hydrocarbons, crude oil and blood), maintain low-contact-angle hysteresis (<2.5°), quickly restore liquid-repellency after physical damage (within 0.1-1 s), resist ice, microorganisms and insects adhesion, and function at high pressures (up to at least 690 atm). Some exemplary application where SLIPS will be useful include energy-efficient fluid handling and transportation, optical sensing, medicine, and as self-cleaning, and anti-fouling materials operating in extreme environments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2013
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Joanna AIZENBERG, Michael AIZENBERG, Sung Hoon KANG, Tak Sing WONG, Philseok KIM
  • Publication number: 20140290731
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes a strategy to create self-healing, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). Roughened (e.g., porous) surfaces can be utilized to lock in place a lubricating fluid, referred to herein as Liquid B to repel a wide range of materials, referred to herein as Object A (Solid A or Liquid A). SLIPS outperforms other conventional surfaces in its capability to repel various simple and complex liquids (water, hydrocarbons, crude oil and blood), maintain low-contact-angle hysteresis (<2.5°), quickly restore liquid-repellency after physical damage (within 0.1-1 s), resist ice, microorganisms and insects adhesion, and function at high pressures (up to at least 690 atm). Some exemplary application where SLIPS will be useful include energy-efficient fluid handling and transportation, optical sensing, medicine, and as self-cleaning, and anti-fouling materials operating in extreme environments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2013
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: President and Fellows of Harvard College
    Inventors: Joanna AIZENBERG, Michael AIZENBERG, Sung Hoon KANG, Tak Sing WONG, Philseok KIM
  • Publication number: 20140147627
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes a strategy to create self-healing, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). Roughened (e.g., porous) surfaces can be utilized to lock in place a lubricating fluid, referred to herein as Liquid B to repel a wide range of materials, referred to herein as Object A (Solid A or Liquid A). SLIPS outperforms other conventional surfaces in its capability to repel various simple and complex liquids (water, hydrocarbons, crude oil and blood), maintain low-contact-angle hysteresis (<2.5°), quickly restore liquid-repellency after physical damage (within 0.1-1 s), resist ice, microorganisms and insects adhesion, and function at high pressures (up to at least 690 atm). Some exemplary application where SLIPS will be useful include energy-efficient fluid handling and transportation, optical sensing, medicine, and as self-cleaning, and anti-fouling materials operating in extreme environments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2012
    Publication date: May 29, 2014
    Applicant: PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Joanna Aizenberg, Michael Aizenberg, Sung Hoon Kang, Philseok Kim, Kam Yan Tang, Tak Sing Wong
  • Publication number: 20140016177
    Abstract: Microstructured hybrid actuator assemblies in which microactuators carrying designed surface properties to be revealed upon actuation are embedded in a layer of responsive materials. The microactuators in a microactuator array reversibly change their configuration in response to a change in the environment without requiring an external power source to switch their optical properties.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Publication date: January 16, 2014
    Applicant: PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
    Inventors: Joanna Aizenberg, Michael Aizenberg, Philseok Kim