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A new “bubble-pen” lithography technique can be used to pattern colloidal and biological particles on solid-state substrates according to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. The technique, which works by using laser-controlled microbubbles to create the patterns, will find a wide range of applications in microelectronics, nanophotonics and nanomedicine…… http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63602 The pattern-writing process

From DNA sequencing and energy storage technology based on coffee dregs, to computers modelled on amoebae, chip features below 7 nm and the International Year of Light, it’s been a great year for nanotechnology. Here are some of the highlights…. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63600

Researchers at Rice University in the US have measured the stiffness of different types of joined-up nanotubes in the most detail ever, and have found that some shapes are tougher than others. The work could help in the design of nanotube-based materials for specific applications in the future, as well as to build 3D structures […]

Fluorescent dye molecules provide convenient sensing and imaging tools, but so far the number of different analytes that can be simultaneously detected is limited by the low number of fluorophores that can be spectrally distinguished in each measurement. Researchers have now shown how to manipulate the fluorescence lifetimes of these dyes by conjugating them to […]

Thanks to a new technique that is more commonly used in particle physics, researchers in France and Austria say they have observed molecules of water evaporating from a nanodroplet and have analysed how the energy is distributed inside the droplet containing just a small number of molecules. The work will be important for better understanding […]

Alongside the efforts to catalogue material properties, which have yielded vast databases, there is a line of research seeking the universal aspects and general mechanisms behind these properties. Researchers at MIT have now successfully used a mathematical framework described as ‘category theory’ to rigorously map the properties of different carbon nanostructures to 3D-printed macroscale prototypes. […]

Researchers in the US and China are reporting on the first small-molecule fluorescent dye for “near-infrared-II” imaging. The dye, which is rapidly excreted by the body, could be used to image tumours in vivo and for image-guided surgery and therapy…… http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63415 Mouse rapidly excretes NIR-II dye

The nanopores formed when certain photosensitive nanoparticles aggregate in response to light of a certain colour could be exploited as “nanoflasks” in which to perform chemistry experiments, according to new work by researchers in Israel and the US. The nanoflasks, which break up when exposed to light of another colour, could be used to synthesize […]

Researchers at the University of Belgrade in Serbia have made the first graphene-based “condenser” microphone that could work at ultrasonic frequencies. The device, which outperforms state-of-the-art commercial nickel-based microphones over a large part of the acoustic spectrum, could find use in a variety of applications – such as monitoring bats, whales and other animals that […]

Competing research teams are presenting their prototypes at “Futurapolis” in Toulouse, France, this week for the first ever international nanocar race, scheduled for the end of next year. The vehicles, which are just several nanometres in size, will be propelled thanks to short electric pulses, and will speed around a circuit made from gold atoms. […]

A hybrid, solid-state film made up of two non-conventional semiconductors (organic molecules and colloidal nanocrystals) can convert infrared light into visible light at modest light intensities of around just 120 “suns”. This is the new result from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who say that their materials could be used to improve […]

Three-dimensional photonic crystals have stimulated researchers in fundamental photonics, as well as possible applications in optical transistors, computers and other devices. However fabricating these structures with the required alignment between different planes has proved fiendishly challenging. A group in the Netherlands has shown that patterning a planar mask to project correctly onto two perpendicular surfaces […]