Materials Sciences

Mesoporous nanospheres focus of Ames Laboratory research

Delivering a dose of chemotherapy drugs to specific cancer cells without the risk of side affects to healthy cells may one day be possible thanks to a nanoscale drug delivery system being explored by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory.

Using tiny silica particles call mesoporous nanospheres to carry drugs inside living cells, Ames Laboratory chemist Victor Lin is studying different metho

To live we need to breathe. Prior to being born we carry this activity out through the placenta and subsequently by means of our lungs. In normal development, the lungs of the foetus are filled with amniotic liquid and, on being born, the first cry activates this respiration surface. But the main problem that premature babies have is that their lungs are not well formed. Moreover, they often lack surfactant, a compound formed by proteins and lipids that avoids the lungs folding in on themselves

Chemists and materials scientists often study “nanotubes” — capsule-shaped molecules only a few billionths of a meter (nanometers) in width. In nanotube form, many materials take on useful, unique properties, such as physical strength and excellent conductivity. Carbon nanotubes are the most widely investigated variety. Now, in pioneering research, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have created and investigated the properties of nanotubes made of

As science enters the world of the very small, researchers will be searching for new ways to study nanoparticles and their properties. For the past several years, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have been experimenting with new methods for preparing nanoparticles on metal supports, with the aim of creating model catalyst systems to better study the special reactivity of nano-sized catalyst particles.

Brookhaven’s Jan Hrbek will review

The U.S. Navy needs lighter materials so ships will go further faster. One way to do that is to use new composite materials. But how will these materials respond to fire — one of the most critical safety concerns on a ship? Virginia Tech material scientists have developed models to test composites for fire resistance – and have a recommendation.

John Bausano, a doctoral student in the chemistry-engineering interdisciplinary Macromolecular Science and Infrastructure Engineering program at

Modern medicine has the desire to replace damaged tissue with newly grown tissue, such as to repair skin, bone, cartilage, or arteries. But what kinds of surfaces could be used to grow suitable tissues?

Suolong Ni, a graduate student in chemistry at Virginia Tech, has fabricated a biopolymer onto solid surfaces with a range of properties to enable the study of the effects of different surfaces on cell adhesion and tissue growth. He will present his research in the Excellence in Graduate Po