Researchers at the University of Illinois in the United States have ingeniously prepared silicone microspheres with a wide range of applications through ultrasonic atomization.
  Silicone resins are the most important and widely used polymers in the world. They have a high degree of biocompatibility, as well as chemical resistance, high temperature stability, and hydrophobicity. Silicone polymers are used in everything from bathtub stoppers to medical catheters and even as an approved food additive. In the silicone resin family, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is the most commonly used.
   The preparation of PDMS spheroids that are strictly smaller than the diameter of a human hair (diameter ≈ 1 μm) has proven to be almost impossible. This is mainly due to the high viscosity and low surface energy of PDMS oligomers. Such nano- and micro-scale materials, however, may create new technologies and new applications in several scientific disciplines, such as in sensors, actuators and additives for polymer resins.
   In the recently published Advanced Science, Kenneth S. Suslick and colleagues present a very flexible, simple, and scalable method to produce silicone resin microspheres.
   They use ultrasonic atomization to make microspheres with various properties, including some colored, fluorescent or magnetic microspheres. With this new method, silicone microspheres can be easily synthesized, facilitating the exploration of techniques that have so far only been speculated