Technology Update
Researchers in the US and South Korea have developed a new technique dubbed “colloidal fusion” to construct patchy nanoparticles that can spontaneously self-assemble into a myriad of more complex architectures. The method might be used to fabricate the building blocks for a wide variety of electronics and optoelectronics devices….. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/70007
The extraordinary electronic, optical and mechanical properties of graphene are well known, but various chemical modifications must be made if the material is to find application in electronic devices…… http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/70008
Cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated in a graphitic shell can be used to kick-start a common chemical reaction called reductive amination, which is routinely used to make a wide variety of pharmaceutically and industrially important molecules. This is the new result from researchers in Germany and Saudi Arabia, who have used their technique to synthesize more than […]
A nanogel containing stem cells could be used to help repair damage to the heart following a heart attack. This is the new result from researchers in China, Australia and the US, who say that their technique stimulates cell regeneration in cardiac tissue without triggering an inflammatory response….. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/70021
Researchers have devised a medicated skin patch that can turn energy-storing white fat into energy-burning brown fat locally while raising the body’s overall metabolism. The patch could be used to burn off pockets of unwanted fat such as “love handles” and treat metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical […]
In a bizarre-sounding experiment at Cambridge as part of the EU Graphene Flagship’s Composites Work Package, the researchers sprayed solutions containing graphene and CNTs into a tank containing spiders. Afterwards, they collected silk the spiders had produced, compared it with silk from before they had their carboniferous lunch, and obtained surprising results….. https://nano-magazine.com/news/2017/9/18/graphene-munching-spiders-produce-stronger-silk/?email=pr@nanotec.or.th
A team of Clemson University physicists at the Clemson Nanomaterials Institute (CNI) tackled this idea when they devised the ultra-simple triboelectric nanogenerator, or U-TENG. The device is designed to take mechanical motion — like the waves in the ocean, the tap of a foot or the clap of a hand — and transform it into […]
The accidental discovery of a novel aluminium alloy that reacts with water in a highly unusual way may be the first step to reviving the struggling hydrogen economy. It could offer a convenient and portable source of hydrogen for fuel cells and other applications, potentially transforming the energy market and providing an alternative to batteries […]
Paper and pigments used to record text and images can degrade in decades, while long-lifetime forms of information storage, such as Blu-ray discs, can be made obsolete by technological changes. Now, Hao Jiang and colleagues at Simon Fraser University have developed a flexible, low-cost technique to print structural colour in a long-lived epoxy. The method […]
Solid tumours are highly heterogeneous structures surrounded by a dense extracellular matrix. They also lack lymphatic drainage and are more acidic than surrounding heathy tissue. Tumours thus have an elevated interstitial fluid pressure that acts as a physiological barrier to therapeutic drugs. A team of researchers in China has now developed a new set of […]
To avoid the worst effects of global warming demands an effective and economically feasible way to decrease the concentration of atmospheric CO2. Researchers in the US have developed a way to remove this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere while simultaneously producing industrial quantities of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The low-energy, facile process, termed “C2CNT”, uses molten […]
Scientists in the Republic of Ireland, the US and the UK have discovered that nanocrystalline copper films are not as flat as they may seem. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) to map the surfaces of copper films with atomic detail, the researchers revealed that the grains in copper rotate and misalign in an effort to […]
A new type of electrochromic window that can attenuate all wavelengths of light by the same amount so that transmitted colours are not distorted has been unveiled by a team of engineers at Stanford University in the US. Although only a small prototype (measuring 25 cm2) has been demonstrated at this stage, the windows could be […]
Encapsulated human embryonic stem-cell differentiated beta cell clusters (hES-βC) show promise for treating diabetics without having to chronically suppress their immune system. A team of researchers at the University of California at San Francisco has now made the first nanoporous polymer thin-film encapsulation device containing human stem-cell derived β-like cells that does not activate or […]
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a technologically important 2D material with a naturally occurring layered structure. It has many excellent properties, including high temperature stability, high thermal conductivity and high mechanical strength. A team of researchers in the US, Korea and Brazil has now succeeded in making the first stable, lightweight 3D foam from the […]
Magnetic nanoparticle clusters have the power to punch through biofilms to reach bacteria that can foul water treatment systems, according to scientists at Rice University and the University of Science and Technology of China…….. https://nano-magazine.com/news/2017/8/3/magnetized-viruses-attack-harmful-bacteria/?email=ramjitti@nanotec.or.th
A multidisciplinary team from the Bristol BioDesign Institute has come together to study the self-assembly of protein building into protein cages, leading to new research which has potential applications in nanotechnology and synthetic biology…….. https://nano-magazine.com/news/2017/8/8/protein-cages-may-have-applications-in-nanotechnology-and-synthetic-biology/?email=ramjitti@nanotec.or.th
Scientists have developed a new device that can heal damaged organs with a single touch. The new device developed at The Ohio State University can start healing organs in a “fraction of a second,” researchers say. Tissue Nanotransfection The technology, known as Tissue Nanotransfection (TNT,) may be used to repair injured tissue or restore function […]
Alternatives to the lithium-ion battery (LIB) become increasingly necessary as the demand for portable electronics, electric vehicles and grid-level energy storage technologies continues to develop. Current Li-ion chemistries are toxic to the environment, highly flammable, and will grow in cost as material needs increase. …. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/69562
A two-arm nanorobot that swims in a freestyle stroke when exposed to an oscillating magnetic field has been unveiled by a team of researchers in the US, China and Israel. The new nanoswimmer can propagate through viscous fluids, like those found in the human body, and so could find use in a host of biomedical […]
A new metamaterial nanostructure designed for infrared-based spectroscopy traps 27 times more light than similar devices. Developed by scientists in the US and China, the structure could be used to improve the detection of drugs, bomb-making materials and other chemicals….. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/69597
