Feature Channels: Nanotechnology

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Accepting and understanding natural variability is the key for engineers seeking to make nanoscale devices that are as efficient as living microorganisms.

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Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Wesleyan University have used computer simulations to gain basic insights into a fundamental problem in material science related to glass-forming materials, offering a precise mathematical and physical description of the way temperature affects the rate of flow in this broad class of materials—a long-standing goal.

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Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have shown that the electronic properties of two layers of graphene vary on the nanometer scale.

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Magnetics researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) colored lots of eggs recently. Bunnies and children might find the eggs a bit small—in fact, too small to see without a microscope. But these "eggcentric" nanomagnets have another practical use, suggesting strategies for making future low-power computer memories.

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A recent study has demonstrated that doctors may soon have a tool for identifying orthopedic prostheses that are becoming loose after total joint replacement surgery, the most common reason joint replacements fail.

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Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method for manufacturing green-colored LEDs with greatly enhanced light output.

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A new polymer-based solar-thermal device is the first to generate power from both heat and visible sunlight – an advance that could shave the cost of heating a home by as much as 40 percent.

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A University of Arkansas physicist has received the largest award granted to an individual researcher from the Army Research Laboratory to search for a novel class of nanomaterials with rationally designed properties.

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Boosting medicine with nanotechnology strengthens drug cocktail many times over.

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Marc-Olivier Coppens has developed a new technique for boosting the stability of enzymes, making them useful under a much broader range of conditions. Coppens confined lysozyme and other enzymes inside carefully engineered nanoscale holes, or nanopores. Instead of denaturing, these embedded enzymes mostly retained their 3-D structure and exhibited a significant increase in activity.

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Using minute graphite particles 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, mechanical engineers at Arizona State University hope to boost the efficiency—and profitability—of solar power plants.

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In a finding that could help fight terrorism and improve safety in laboratories working with explosive chemicals, scientists are reporting development of a new material made of nanoparticles that can quickly detect and neutralize explosives. Soldiers, firefighters, lab workers could spray the material onto bombs or suspected explosives to make them no longer harmful, the scientists said. They will describe the new material at the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim.

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Unlike other drugs that target cancer cells from the outside with minimal effect, this “transport vehicle” carries multiple drugs that spare healthy cells, accumulate in tumor cells and strike cancer-specific molecular targets inside.

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A nanotechnology-based biosensor being developed by Kansas State University researchers may allow early detection of both cancer cells and pathogens, leading to increased food safety and reduced health risks.

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Engineers have invented a new kind of nano-particle that shines in different colors to tag molecules in biomedical tests. These tiny plastic nano-particles are stuffed with even tinier bits of electronics called quantum dots.

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A new technique using "quantum dots" produced through nanotechnology is a promising approach to monitoring the effects of stem cell therapies for stroke and other types of brain damage, reports the April issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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A team of scientists from Princess Margaret Hospital have created an organic nanoparticle that is completely non-toxic, biodegradable and nimble in the way it uses light and heat to treat cancer and deliver drugs. (A nanoparticle is a minute molecule with novel properties).

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Matthew Tirrell, a pioneering researcher in the fields of biomolecular engineering and nanotechnology, has been appointed founding Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago’s new Institute for Molecular Engineering, effective July 1.

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A safe, simple, and cheap method of creating perfectly etched micron and smaller size wells in a variety of substrates has been developed by researchers in Penn State’s Department of Chemical Engineering.

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Researchers from NIST and Weill Cornell Mecial College have designed artificial 'protocells' that can lure, entrap and inactivate a class of deadly human viruses--think decoys with teeth.

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Husband and wife research team study applications of ‘tiny entities.’

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By mimicking the structure of the silk moth's antenna, University of Michigan researchers led the development of a better nanopore---a tiny tunnel-shaped tool that could advance understanding of a class of neurodegenerative diseases that includes Alzheimer's.

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Chemistry researchers at McGill University have taken a key step towards making a cheap, portable, paper-based filter coated with silver nanoparticles to be used in emergency situations such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes.

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In an advance that could improve battlefield and trauma care, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have used tiny particles called nanoparticles to improve survival after life-threatening blood loss. Nanoparticles containing nitric oxide (NO) were infused into the bloodstream of hamsters, where they helped maintain blood circulation and protect vital organs. The research was reported in the February 21 online edition of the journal Resuscitation.

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New nanomaterials research from the University at Buffalo could lead to new solutions for an age-old public health problem: how to separate bacteria from drinking water.

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Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated for the first time a method for producing nanoparticle clusters in a variety of controlled sizes that are stable over time so that their effects on cells can be studied properly.

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For almost two decades, cardiologists have searched for ways to see dangerous blood clots before they cause heart attacks. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that they have designed nanoparticles that find clots and make them visible to a new kind of X-ray technology.

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Windshields that shed water so effectively that they don’t need wipers. Ship hulls so slippery that they glide through the water more efficiently than ordinary hulls. These are some of the potential applications for graphene, one of the hottest new materials in the field of nanotechnology, raised by the research of James Dickerson, assistant professor of physics at Vanderbilt.

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NanoBusiness Alliance, the top nanotechnology industry organization, has chosen engineering professor and NanoMech, Inc. founder Ajay Malshe as one of the 10 most influential nanotechnology leaders of 2010. The designation, announced recently by Vincent Caprio, NanoBusiness Alliance executive director, affirms the University of Arkansas as a national leader in nanotechnology research and development.

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New measurements by NIST researchers may affect the design of devices that rely on the high mobility of electrons in graphene--they show that layering graphene on a substrate transforms its bustling speedway into steep hills and valleys that make it harder for electrons to get around.

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Clarkson University Physics Professor Igor Sokolov and his team have discovered a method of making the brightest ever synthesized fluorescent silica nanoparticles.

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Four prominent scientists -- David Awschalom (UCSB), Angela Belcher (MIT), Donald Eigler (IBM Almaden Research Center) and Michael Roukes (Caltech) -- join in a dialogue about the future of nanoscience in the next fifty years.

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UNC researchers have created synthetic particles that closely mirror some of the key properties of red blood cells. The particles, which mimic the size, shape and flexibility of natural red blood cells, could potentially help pave the way for the development of synthetic blood and lead to more effective treatments for diseases such as cancer.

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Artistry from science: Cornell University researchers have unveiled striking, atomic-resolution details of what graphene “quilts” look like at the boundaries between patches, and have uncovered key insights into graphene’s electrical and mechanical properties.

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A $16-million grant from the National Cancer Institute will utilize specialized expertise developed by Steven Libutti, M.D., professor and vice chair of surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore, the University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Einstein. The research - carried out by a group of institutions, including Einstein, that comprise the Texas Center for Cancer Nanomedicine - could lead to novel ways to diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer using nanoparticles.

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In a study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky determined that earthworms could absorb copper nanoparticles present in soil. The manufacturing of nanomaterials has been steadily on the rise in the medical, industrial, and scientific fields.

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In a proof of principal study in mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins and the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have shown that a set of genetic instructions encased in a nanoparticle can be used as an “ignition switch” to rev up gene activity that aids cancer detection and treatment.

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A Drexel University team of engineers, scientists and biologists have developed a carbon nanotube-based device for probing single living cells without damaging them. This technique will allow experts to identify diseases in their early stage and advance drug discovery.

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One of the rarest metals on Earth may be an excellent option for enabling future flash memory chips to continue increasing in speed and density, according to a group of researchers in Taiwan, who describe incorporating nanocrystals of iridium into critical components of flash memory in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

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Manufacturing semiconductors for electronics involves etching small features onto wafers using lasers, a process that is limited by the wavelength of the light itself. The development of a new, intense 13.5-nm light source will resolve this issue by reducing the feature size by an order of magnitude or so, according to Purdue researchers writing in the Journal of Applied Physics.

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Moving a step closer toward quantum computing, a research team in the Netherlands recently fabricated a photodetector based on a single nanowire, in which the active element is a single quantum dot with a volume of a mere 7,000 cubic nanometers. The device is described in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

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Pushing the regime of the very cold into the realm of the very small, NIST researchers and their collaborators have designed and built the most advanced ultra-low temperature scanning probe microscope in the world, opening a new portal for discovery at the nanoscale.

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Realtime view of single nanowire anode offers information to improve lithium batteries.

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New high resolution images of electrode wires made from materials used in rechargeable lithium ion batteries shows them contorting as they become charged with electricity, according to a paper in this week's issue of the journal Science.

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Despite their initial focus on national economic competitiveness, the nanotechnology research initiatives now funded by more than 60 countries have become increasingly collaborative, with nearly a quarter of all papers co-authored by researchers across borders.

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Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York have developed a new technique for probing the temperature rise in the vicinity of nanoparticles using fluorescent quantum dots as temperature sensors. The results, published in the Journal of Applied Physics, may have implications for the medical use of nanoparticles.

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Mimicking the reflective iridescence of a butterfly's wing, investigators have developed a color-changing patch that could be worn on soldiers' helmets and uniforms to indicate the strength of exposure to blasts from explosives in the field. Future studies aim to calibrate the color change to the intensity of exposure to provide an immediate read on the potential harm to the brain and the subsequent need for medical intervention.

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A new chemical analysis technique developed by a research group at NIST uses the shifting ultrasonic pitch of a small quartz crystal to test the purity of only a few micrograms of material.

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Magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) is a promising new cancer treatment that essentially "fries" cells inside tumors. As described today at the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) meeting in Long Beach, CA, when the nanoparticles are heated, cancer cells die with no adverse effects to the surrounding healthy tissue.

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A systematic study of phase changes in vanadium dioxide has solved a mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades, according to researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.