Formation of micro/nano structures out of soap bubbles

We proposed to synthesize, etch and construct micro/nano structures through manipulating the large-scale bubbles composed of specific chemical compounds. The core of the method lies in the chemical reaction occurred at the interfaces between two or more soap bubbles. A unique virtue of the bubble is that it can have a rather large diameter however an extremely small membrane thickness, whose smallest size could reach nano scale. Therefore, the chemical reaction and synthesis occurred in the common interface of such contacting bubbles would lead to products with very small size. Several typical micro structures were fabricated to demonstrate the feasibility of the new method. Being flexible, easily controllable and environment friendly, the present concept may open a straightforward low-cost way for making micro/nano structures. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.