{"id":6072,"date":"2021-07-14T17:39:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T09:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/?post_type=nus-news&p=6072"},"modified":"2022-12-15T14:44:24","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T06:44:24","slug":"prof-sir-konstantin-novoselov-physics-and-fine-art","status":"publish","type":"nus-news","link":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/news\/prof-sir-konstantin-novoselov-physics-and-fine-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Prof Sir Konstantin Novoselov: Physics and fine art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov enjoys working creatively, both in material science and in abstract art forms (Photo: The University of Manchester)<\/p>\n

On 22 October 2004, Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov along with other colleagues including his former PhD supervisor Professor Sir Andre Geim published one of the most revolutionary scientific papers of the 21st century.<\/p>\n

In it, they described the isolation of the world\u2019s first two-dimensional (2D) material. This atomically thin sheet was graphene \u2014 the strongest, most stretchable, most conductive, material ever discovered \u2014 and the two colleagues later shared the 2010 Nobel prize in Physics for their ground-breaking accomplishment.<\/p>\n

Whilst the Nobel prize is often seen as the crowning achievement of any scientist\u2019s career, Prof Novoselov remains grounded and modest about the award. \u201cOf course winning a Nobel prize is special in the career of any scientist, but honestly, I\u2019m the same person as before,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing a prize-winner doesn\u2019t make you 100 times smarter, but people certainly listen to you for a change,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

This humble attitude also translates into how Prof Novoselov conducts his research and works with his students. \u201cI tend to work in small teams,\u201d he said. \u201cBut of course, what is most important is the community. I find it much more stimulating if you collaborate. So, my task now is to create this sense of community in my lab at NUS,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Originally from Russia, but also a citizen of the United Kingdom, Prof Novoselov has a long collaborative history with the\u00a0NUS Centre for Advanced 2D Materials<\/a>. However, it was the new opportunities available which ultimately attracted him to make the move from Manchester University to NUS. \u201cI wanted to take my research in a slightly new direction, and I needed a place that would offer me a good start. Singapore has an established and dynamic scientific community, with NUS offering strong collaboration opportunities from multidisciplinary backgrounds,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

This new research direction will be looking deeper into cutting-edge advanced materials. \u201cPeople know me as the graphene researcher, but I would like to expand further. What graphene and other 2D materials taught us is that you can create artificial materials which are designed atom by atom for specific purposes,\u201d he explained. By building from the atomic level up, these advanced materials could push the boundaries of what is possible, for example by being lighter, stronger, and more conductive than ever before.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to take my research in a slightly new direction, and I needed a place that would offer me a good start. Singapore has an established and dynamic scientific community, with NUS offering strong collaboration opportunities from multidisciplinary backgrounds.” \u2014 Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov<\/p>\n

Naturally, working with these atomically thin materials calls for a skilled and patient researcher. The intricate manipulations involved often require a steady hand \u2014 something which Prof Novoselov claims he did not always have. \u201cI like to work with my hands, but 20 years ago as a PhD student, I saw that my professors were much more adept at handling materials than me,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, as a form of training, I bought a cutthroat razor to shave with. After much practice, my hands became steadier and I was able to perform the skillful actions required. I still shave with a cutthroat razor today,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

Now, Prof Novoselov admits that he has fewer opportunities for hands-on research, as he encourages his team to perform many of the practical elements of lab work. So to continue working with his hands, and to keep his dexterity keen, he has taken to more artistic pursuits and regularly paints.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky enough to be trained in traditional Chinese painting by a prominent Chinese artist,\u201d he said. After painting customary objects like bamboo, orchids, lotuses, and cherry blossoms, Prof Novoselov started to use the same techniques to paint other objects, and his teacher was encouraging. \u201cHe understood that it doesn\u2019t matter what you paint, it\u2019s how well you transfer the mood to the painting that\u2019s important,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov often paints with a combination of graphene ink and Chinese ink to encode secret characters within his paintings. These can only be revealed with a spectrometer and such methods can be used to authenticate the work (Photo:\u00a0Konstantin Novoselov)<\/p>\n

Now he uses Chinese brushes and techniques to paint anything that he likes \u2014 even using graphene ink in some paintings. \u201cGraphene ink is not as black as Chinese ink; it has a silver sheen which I can use for the aesthetic quality,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cBut also, it\u2019s possible to paint with Chinese and graphene ink in combination so that the graphene ink cannot be seen with the naked eye. In fact, the only way to observe the brushstrokes would be with a spectrometer. In this way, I can encode secret characters and meanings in my paintings using graphene.\u201d However, unfortunately, Prof Novoselov is staying tight-lipped on where to look, and how to decipher these codes.<\/p>\n

Since starting his positon at NUS just over a month ago, Prof Novoselov mentioned that he\u2019s already been hard at work. \u201cThis first month was very intense, with a lot of effort on settling in. However, I\u2019m very happy that I managed to dedicate most of my time to science. I\u2019ve continued some old projects, and also started some new ones too,\u201d he said. Whether scientific or artistic, Prof Novoselov\u2019s work is always interesting and innovative, and as such, his upcoming projects at NUS will certainly be ones to look out for in future.<\/p>\n

* Article from NUS news<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov enjoys working creatively, both in material science and in abstract art forms (Photo: The University of Manchester) On 22 October 2004, Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov along with other colleagues including his former PhD supervisor Professor Sir Andre Geim published one of the most revolutionary scientific papers of the 21st century. In<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":6073,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"news_category":[36],"class_list":["post-6072","nus-news","type-nus-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/6072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/nus-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/6072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14191,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/6072\/revisions\/14191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cde.nus.edu.sg\/mse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=6072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}