‘Frozen Fractals All Around’ by Dr Konstantin Faershteyn, has taken QUT Centre for Materials Science Prize.
It a Scanning electron microscopy image of residual NaCl crystallised on Si substrate as a byproduct of Au nanoparticle synthesis. Rapid solidification of salt often results in a characteristic tree-like structure of crystals – dendritic structures. This multi-branching form is also typical for snowflakes or so-called “frozen fractals” as we know from Konstantin’s daughter favourite movie “Frozen”.
Our congratulation to Konstantin, well deserved prize!