For nanoelectronics, biotechnology
An article to be published in the February 27 issue of the journal Science introduces “nanorings” as the newest member of a growing family of nanometer-scale structures based on single crystals of zinc oxide, a semiconducting and piezoelectric material that has important technological applications.
The rings, complete circles formed by a spontaneous self-coiling process, could serve as nanometer-scale sensors, resonators and transducers – a
“Nature was nano before nano was cool,” stated Henry Fountain in a recent New York Times article on the proliferation of nanotechnology research projects. No one is more aware of this fact of nature than Dan Morse of the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research groups have been studying the ways that nature builds ocean organisms at the nanoscale for over ten years.
For example, they have studied the abalone shell for its high-performance, super-resistant, composite mineral str
For years, organic electro-optic polymers have held the promise of vastly improving technologies such as communications, data processing and image displays. Now it appears scientists are on the verge of breakthroughs that will bring dramatic progress in materials, as well as the devices in which they are used, setting the stage for a virtual revolution.
Simply put, electro-optic polymers are being used to make devices that take information that typically has been transmitted electronically
A new collaboration at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will contend with lots of sticking points–by design. NIST and industry researchers intend to devise rapid screening and measurement methods that speed discovery of new epoxies, pressure-sensitive adhesives and other products manufactured for the $30 billion global adhesives market.
In a project just getting under way, the partners will refine and extend miniaturized technologies for simultaneous testing of hun
Heat may be essential for life, but in some cases – such as protecting the space shuttle or improving the efficiency of a jet engine – materials with low thermal conductivities are needed to prevent passage of too much heat. As reported in the Feb. 13 issue of the journal Science, researchers have created a better thermal insulator by controlling material structure at the nanoscale.
“We explored ways to control thermal properties in materials by introducing structure on nanometer length scal
Dutch researcher Michiel Blauw has described the physical limitations of the plasma-etching of deep, narrow microstructures in silicon. His results have led to such an improvement in the etching process that trenches with a depth more than 30 times their width can now be made. This is important for the production of sensitive sensors.
Blauw investigated fluorine-based plasma etching processes. A plasma with a high ion-density ’burns’ a small hole in silicon. Many applications requi
Purdue University scientists have uncovered an unusual material that could lead to non-metallic magnets, which might be lighter, cheaper and easier to fabricate than magnets made of metal.
A team of researchers, including Paul G. Wenthold, has analyzed a radical hydrocarbon molecule whose electrons behave differently than they should, according to well-known principles. The compound is not the only molecule that exhibits such odd behavior in its surrounding cloud of electrons, but it is the
If manufacturing is entering the “Golden Age” of nanotechnology, then carbon nanotubes are the “Golden Child.” In recent years, these tubes of graphite many times thinner than a human hair have become a much-touted emerging technology because of their potential ability to add strength and other important properties to materials.
Adding carbon nanotubes to plastics and other polymers has potential to make automobile and airplane bodies stronger and lighter, and textiles more tear-resistant.
A research team at the Department of Physics at the Public University of Navarre are developing new, “intelligent” materials which have the capacity for changing shape when a magnetic field is applied to them. These materials may be used for the generation of ultrasonic signals, in the manufacture of loudspeakers and sonars or in actuators, amongst other applications. The project is a three-year one.
Specifically, the group at the Public University of Navarre is working on the optimisation
Weizmann Institute scientists have created a new type of nanotube built of gold, silver and other nanoparticles. The tubes exhibit unique electrical, optical and other properties, depending on their components, and as such, may form the basis for future nanosensors, catalysts and chemistry-on-a-chip systems.
The study, published in Angewandte Chemie, was performed by Prof. Israel Rubinstein, Dr. Alexander Vaskevich, postdoctoral associate Dr. Michal Lahav and doctoral student Tali Sehayek,
Computer simulations play an essential role in the study of complex fluids – liquids that contain particles of different sizes. Such liquids have numerous applications, which depend on a fundamental understanding of their behavior. But the two main techniques for the atomistic simulation of liquids – the molecular dynamics technique and the Monte Carlo method – have limitations that greatly reduce their effectiveness.
As reported in the Jan. 23 issue of the journal Physical Review Letters,
By modifying the surface of tiny, fluorescent crystals called quantum dots, Carnegie Mellon University scientists have enabled them to circulate for hours in animals and to provide fluorescent signals for at least eight months, the longest that anyone has observed quantum dot fluorescence in a living animal. This technological feat overcomes a major limitation, making quantum dots finally practical for long-term studies in mammals.
Reporting in the January/February issue of Bioconjugate Che
Stronger or tougher? For designers of advanced materials, this tradeoff may complicate efforts to devise efficient methods for assembling nanometer-scale building blocks into exotic ceramics, glasses and other types of customized materials.
“Not all properties may benefit from microstructural refinement, so due caution needs to be exercised in materials design,” writes the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Brian Lawn in the January issue of Journal of Materials Researc
A waste product from rice has been used by Japanese scientists to produce surfacing materials that make for quieter, more resilient roads, reports Richard Butler in this issue of Chemistry & Industry Magazine.
Roads made using this method absorb noise better, drain faster and are less susceptible to extremes of temperature than traditional based road surfaces, according to Minebea, of Nagano, Japan. They may even be able to help traffic management.
The new traffic surfaces contain r
Purdue University researchers have shown that extremely thin carbon fibers called “nanotubes” might be used to create brain probes and implants to study and treat neurological damage and disorders.
Probes made of silicon currently are used to study brain function and disease but may one day be used to apply electrical signals that restore damaged areas of the brain. A major drawback to these probes, however, is that they cause the body to produce scar tissue that eventually accumulates and p
The discovery of carbon nanotubes heralded a new era of scientific discovery that included the promise of ultra-sensitive bomb detectors and super-fast computer memory chips. But finding a way to incorporate nanomaterials into a working nanoelectronic system has been a frustratingly elusive achievement – until now.
In an important milestone in the fields of nanosciences and nanoengineering, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University are announcing that th
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