For the second consecutive year, Xiaolin Liu, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemistry, submitted a science image that has been selected the winner of the Main Category in the School of Chemical Sciences Image Challenge.
Liu conducts research in chemistry professor Jeffrey Moore's group and her winning image this year is called "Polymer Mosaic". It's an image of a thin, cracked polymer film that resembles a stained-glass mosaic. Liu observed the cracked pattern after removing dichloromethane from a polymer solution with compressed air. In the image description, Liu explains that the "delicate, irregular pattern and non-uniform thickness scatter light dynamically, producing a colorful display with striking contrast and a vibrant, ethereal effect."
Read more about how Xiaolin Liu captures the beauty and artistry in chemistry | Department of Chemistry | Illinois
The School of Chemical Sciences recently announced the Science Image Challenge winners and finalists, featuring images from 2024 that highlight research projects by graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The winners and finalists were celebrated during an awards ceremony on March 17, 2025, in the Chemistry Library in Noyes Laboratory.
The annual SCS Image Challenge highlights computer-assisted or traditional scientific images that feature an object, process or technique within a scientific research project in the departments of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering at Illinois. The challenge is open to SCS graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral associates and fellows, and staff. The entrant’s Principal Investigator must be a faculty member or an affiliate/adjunct of the departments of chemistry or chemical and biomolecular engineering.
The winning images and finalists' images from this latest Science Image Challenge will go on exhibit in the Chemistry Library in Noyes and rotate to other displays in Noyes and Roger Adams Laboratory.
Main Category Winner
Polymer mosaic
A thin, cracked polymer film resembling a stained-glass mosaic was observed after removing dichloromethane from a polymer solution with compressed air. Its delicate, irregular pattern and non-uniform thickness scatter light dynamically, producing a colorful display with striking contrast and a vibrant, ethereal effect.
Cover Art Category Winner
A 3D-printed recreation of Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” Image created using a UV-assisted direct-ink-writing 3D printer and self-assembling bottlebrush block copolymer inks. This system enables the production of a wide range of structural colors and gradients in a single print with a single ink.
Main Category Finalists
Ching-Yu Chen, Xiao Su Lab, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
"The Rise of Godzilla from the Sea"
Presented is an SEM image of self-assembled aniline oligomers on top of a layer of polyaniline. The arrayed spikes consist of oligoaniline, a by-product of aniline electropolymerization reaction. Free oligoanilines in the solution can self-assemble through supramolecular forces and form diverse morphologies depending on the assembly conditions.
Yupeng Li, Emad Tajkhorshid Lab, Center for Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry
"Journey of a Phospholipid"
The LetAB complex in gram-negative bacteria is functioning as a unidirectional tunnel to transport phospholipids from inner to outer membrane. Captured is the moment when one phospholipid is extracted from the inner membrane, while another is positioned to transition from LetA into the envelope-spanning LetB tunnel.
Aurosish Sharma, Huimin Zhao Lab, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
"The threads of cognitive decline"
Amyloid-beta (Aβ) plays a complex role in Alzheimer’s disease. Toxic even before aggregating, soluble Aβ oligomers disrupt synaptic function by binding to neuronal receptors, impairing communication. Aggregated plaques (yellow color), an advanced hallmark of AD, cause neural damage, memory loss, and cognitive decline, emphasizing critical therapeutic targets to mitigate progression.
Kyle Timmer, Brendan Harley Lab, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
"Tangled Restoration"
The microstructure of a collagen sponge designed to promote tendon-to-bone healing is captured with SEM and colorized. Because the body often struggles to heal musculoskeletal injuries, we fabricate materials with precise architectures that mimic the original tissue, guiding our cells to recognize and regenerate what was lost.