Patent ID: 8459976

Claim:
An apparatus to adjust directional conductivity of nanorods in an electrophoretic gel containing dissolved metal, comprising: a first substrate; a second substrate positioned relative to the first substrate to allow placement of the electrophoretic gel between the first and second substrates; an electrode pair including a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the first electrode is disposed on the first substrate and the second electrode is disposed on the second substrate, and wherein the electrode pair is adapted to produce an electrical field through the electrophoretic gel between the first and second substrates in response to a potential difference across the first and second electrodes; a field control apparatus coupled to the first and second electrodes to apply the potential difference across the first and second electrodes in response to a control signal; and a computing device comprising a processor, a memory, and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to: adjust the control signal effective to control the application of the potential difference by the field control apparatus such that nanorods in the electrophoretic gel are oriented by electromagnetic force produced by the electric field through the electrophoretic gel in a direction substantially parallel to the electrical field produced by the electrode pair; and adjust the control signal to reinforce the oriented nanorods by: applying a pulsed current to the electrophoretic gel effective to promote a dendritic growth process in the nanorods, whereby the dissolved metal in the electrophoretic gel forms dendrites which establish connections between the nanorods; or applying an electroplating electrical current to the electrophoretic gel effective to promote electroplating of the nanorods.