Feature Channels: Nanotechnology

• share
• favorite_border

Research offers potential treatment for macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

• share
• favorite_border

Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a jelly-like material and wound treatment method that, in early experiments on skin damaged by severe burns, appeared to regenerate healthy, scar-free tissue.

• share
• favorite_border

The rapid emergence and adoption of nanotechnology has provided an opportunity to examine the formation of public opinion on the risks and benefits of a largely unregulated, new and unique technology.

• share
• favorite_border

Discovery is of a fundamental interest for the development of future electronics.

• share
• favorite_border

Surprise voltage boosts up to 25% observed in closely packed nanowires may impact next-generation handheld devices, solar arrays, and basic science.

• share
• favorite_border

Using clever but elegant design, University at Buffalo chemists have synthesized tiny, molecular cages that can be used to capture and purify nanomaterials.

• share
• favorite_border

Dr. Yury Gogotsi. In a piece published in the November 18 edition of Science, calls for a new, standardized gauge of performance measurement for energy storage devices.

• share
• favorite_border

Integrating a complex, single-crystal material with "giant" piezoelectric properties onto silicon, University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers and physicists can fabricate low-voltage, near-nanoscale electromechanical devices that could lead to improvements in high-resolution 3-D imaging, signal processing, communications, energy harvesting, sensing, and actuators for nanopositioning devices, among others.

• share
• favorite_border

Copper’s days are numbered, and a new study at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could hasten the downfall of the ubiquitous metal in smart phones, tablet computers, and nearly all electronics. This is good news for technophiles who are seeking smaller, faster devices.

• share
• favorite_border

Nanotechnology researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have conducted the first direct comparison of two fundamental techniques that could be used for chemically doping sheets of two-dimensional graphene for the fabrication of devices and interconnects.

• share
• favorite_border

On the nanoscale, particles flow in unexpected ways; For diabetics, spectroscopy may replace painful pinpricks; Nanotechnology to the rescue: Biosensing tool to detect salmonella holds promise for preventing common food poisoning.

• share
• favorite_border

Using a new tool, Cornell University researchers deliberately created atomic-level disorder in order to probe the workings of heavy fermion compounds. They found that, rather than hindering superconductivity, magnetism was an essential ingredient -- and if controlled, may be a key for future advances in the field.

• share
• favorite_border

Alex Travesset reports in the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Science that nanotechnology has entered a new era. Because of developments in nanoparticle self-assembly, designer materials with unique properties are now possible.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Arkansas researcher has patented a process that reduces the time it takes to perform DNA analysis from hours to minutes. This development could contribute to many areas of health care and law enforcement, including diagnosing and treating disease, developing and testing new vaccines and forensic identification.

• share
• favorite_border

It's a car, it's a plane, it's . . . paper? At Florida State University's High-Performance Materials Institute (www.hpmi.net), a revolutionary new material known as buckypaper is being developed in ways that could change the world and lead us toward a more sustainable future.

• share
• favorite_border

Waste heat is a byproduct of nearly all electrical devices and industrial processes, from driving a car to flying an aircraft or operating a power plant. Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed new nanomaterials that could lead to techniques for better capturing and putting this waste heat to work. The key ingredients for making marble-sized pellets of the new material are aluminum and a common, everyday microwave oven.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have for the first time designed a simpler method of making ordered magnetic materials by coupling magnetic properties to nanostructure formation at low temperatures. Previous processes required either much higher temperatures or more steps to achieve the same result at higher cost.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology have for the first time provided details of their “confinement controlled sublimation” technique for growing high-quality layers of epitaxial graphene on silicon carbide wafers.

• share
• favorite_border

Assembly of nanostructures using DNA may lead to the production of new materials with a wide range of applications from electronics to tissue engineering. Researchers in the Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering at the University of Arkansas have produced building blocks for such material by controlling the number, placement and orientation of DNA linkers on the surface of colloidal nanoparticles.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are working to optimize a promising new nanomaterial called nanoblades for use in hydrogen storage. During their testing of the new material, they have discovered that it can store and release hydrogen extremely fast and at low temperatures compared to similar materials. Another important aspect of the new material is that it is also rechargeable. These attributes could make it ideal for use in onboard hydrogen storage for next-generation hydrogen or fuel cell vehicles.

• share
• favorite_border

Chemists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences have developed the world's first single molecule electric motor, a development that may potentially create a new class of devices that could be used in applications ranging from medicine to engineering.

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Arkansas physicist and his colleagues have found that ultra-thin films of superconductors and related materials don’t lose their fundamental properties when built under strain when built as atomically thin layers, an important step towards achieving artificially designed room temperature superconductivity.

• share
• favorite_border

In two articles in Nano Letters, Penn State materials scientists describe advances that could make graphene a viable technology for use in radio frequency applications.

• share
• favorite_border

The technology in “fire paint” used to protect steel beams in buildings and other structures has found a new life as a first-of-its-kind flame retardant for children’s cotton sleepwear, terrycloth bathrobes and other apparel, according to a report presented here today at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

• share
• favorite_border

Using a modern version of open-wide-and-keep-this-under-your-tongue, scientists today reported taking the temperature of individual cells in the human body, and finding for the first time that temperatures inside do not adhere to the familiar 98.6 degree Fahrenheit norm. They presented the research at the 242nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held here this week.

• share
• favorite_border

A delicate balance of atomic forces can be exploited to make nanoparticle superclusters that are uniform in size---an attribute that's important for many nanotech applications but hard to accomplish, University of Michigan researchers say.

• share
• favorite_border

A Kansas State University professor is trying to create a patient-friendly treatment to help the more than 220,000 people who are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. The treatment uses nanoparticles to directly target the "bull's-eye": cancer cells.

• share
• favorite_border

The discovery of a fundamental, previously unknown property of microbial nanowires in the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens allowing electron transport across long distances could revolutionize nanotechnology and bioelectronics, say UMass physicists and microbiologists in Nature Nanotechnology.

• share
• favorite_border

A single compound with dual function – the ability to deliver a diagnostic and therapeutic agent – may one day be used to enhance the diagnosis, imaging and treatment of brain tumors, according to findings from Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech.

• share
• favorite_border

Taking advantage of the unique properties of zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have demonstrated a new type of piezoelectric resistive switching device in which the write-read access of memory cells is controlled by electromechanical modulation.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to harvest energy from flowing water. The research team demonstrated how the flow of water over surfaces coated with the nanomaterial graphene could generate small amounts of electricity.

• share
• favorite_border

A new approach to growing graphene greatly reduces problems that have plagued researchers in the past and clears a path to the crystalline form of graphite’s use in sophisticated electronic devices of tomorrow.

• share
• favorite_border

Using a technique known as thermochemical nanolithography, researchers have developed a new way to fabricate nanometer-scale ferroelectric structures directly on flexible plastic substrates that would be unable to withstand the temperatures normally required to create such nanostructures.

• share
• favorite_border

At an atomic scale, the tiniest bridge of gold -- that made of a single atom -- is actually the strongest, according to new research by engineers at the University at Buffalo’s Laboratory for Quantum Devices.

• share
• favorite_border

A new book by scientists at Case Western Reserve University and UC San Diego, explores research into viral nanoparticles. The field of using viruses as platforms for medicine, electronics and more has exploded during the last two decades.

• share
• favorite_border

University at Buffalo chemists have used synchrotron light sources to observe the electron clouds on the surface of graphene, producing a series of images that reveal how folds and ripples in the remarkable material can harm its conductivity.

• share
• favorite_border

Scientists have discovered fundamental steps of charging of nano-sized water droplets and unveiled the long-sought-after mechanism of hydrogen emission from irradiated water.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a novel method of disguising nanoparticles as red blood cells, which will enable them to evade the body’s immune system and deliver cancer-fighting drugs straight to a tumor.

• share
• favorite_border

Food scientists are hoping to utilize nanotechnology to improve food nutrition, quality, safety and taste, according to panelists Tuesday at the Institute of Food Technologists' 2011 Annual Meeting & Food Expo.

• share
• favorite_border

By adding the right amount of heat, researchers have developed a method that improves the electrical capacity and recharging lifetime of sodium ion rechargeable batteries, which could be a cheaper alternative for large-scale uses such as storing energy on the electrical grid.

• share
• favorite_border

While nanomaterials are being used increasingly in products and other commercial applications, few state agencies are adequately equpped for oversight and regulation. A Southeastern researcher is exploring the information and technical needs of state government agencies.

• share
• favorite_border

Imagine plugging a USB port into a sheet of paper, and turning it into a tablet computer. It might be a stretch, but ideas like this have researchers at North Carolina State University examining the use of conductive nanocoatings on simple textiles – like woven cotton or even a sheet of paper.

• share
• favorite_border

A team of Vanderbilt engineers have developed a rapid and low-cost imprinting process that can stamp out a variety of devices that have unique optical, electrical, chemical and mechanical properties.

• share
• favorite_border

A NIST study adds an additional wrinkle to concerns over what happens to silver nanoparticles after they are released into the environment: nature may be making silver nanoparticles on its own.

• share
• favorite_border

Building on extensive lab research using magnetically guided nanoparticles to deliver drugs to diseased blood vessels, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has spun off its first startup company, Vascular Magnetics, Inc. (VMI).

• share
• favorite_border

A University of Oregon researcher is on a quest to grow flowers that will help people who've lost their sight by designing nano-sized flowers whose fractal shapes on implants will engage with neurons to carry light to the optic nerve.

• share
• favorite_border

Imagine hearing daily about health- and labor-saving devices in nearby towns, but having no way to reach them. A map would help, as a new “Nanoinformatics 2020 Roadmap” should enhance connections among nanotechnology science and engineering researchers, manufacturers and government agencies.

• share
• favorite_border

UCLA scientists have discovered a way to wake up the immune system to fight cancer by delivering an immune system-stimulating protein in a nanoscale container called a vault directly into lung cancer tumors, harnessing the body’s natural defenses to fight disease growth.

• share
• favorite_border

Leading experts will gather at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., May 4 to discuss the challenges of regulating nanotechnologies.

• share
• favorite_border

With the creation of a 3-D nanocone-based solar cell platform, a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Jun Xu has boosted the light-to-power conversion efficiency of photovoltaics by nearly 80 percent.