Nanotechnology News - February 2009 Archives

Researchers use nano-origami to build tiny electronic devices (2/28/2009)

MIT researchers are developing the basic principles of nano-origami, a new technique that allows engineers to fold nanoscale materials into simple 3-D structures. The tiny folded materials could be used as motors and capacitors, potentially leading to better computer memory storage, faster microprocessors and new nanophotonic devices. ...> Full Article

Nanotechnologists gain powerful new materials probe (2/27/2009)

Researchers at NIST and The Johns Hopkins University have constructed a unique tool for exploring the properties of promising new materials with unprecedented sensitivity and speed, potentially allowing them to identify quickly those most useful for nanotechnology and industrial applications. ...> Full Article

Models present new view of nanoscale friction (2/26/2009)

Friction is a force that affects any application where moving parts come into contact; the more surface contact there is, the stronger the force. At the nanoscale -- mere billionths of a meter -- friction can wreak havoc on tiny devices made from only a small number of atoms or molecules. With their high surface-to-volume ratio, nanomaterials are especially susceptible to the forces of friction. ...> Full Article

Gold-palladium nanoparticles achieve greener, smarter production of hydrogen peroxide (2/24/2009)

Processing in smaller quantities and more useful concentrations is seen ...> Full Article

Pitt researchers create atomic-sized one-stop shop for nanoelectronics (2/23/2009)

A single platform yields transistors two nanometers in size with applications for computers, memory devices, sensors and other important technologies ...> Full Article

New method of self-assembling nanoscale elements could transform data storage industry (2/23/2009)

An innovative and easily implemented technique developed by researchers at UC Berkeley and UMass Amherst could soon open doors to dramatic improvements in the data storage capacity of electronic media. The novel method enables the self-assembly of nanoscale elements in precise patterns over large surfaces. ...> Full Article

New imaging technique reveals the atomic structure of nanocrystals (2/22/2009)

A new imaging technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois overcomes the limit of diffraction and can reveal the atomic structure of a single nanocrystal with a resolution of less than one angstrom (less than one hundred-millionth of a centimeter). ...> Full Article

Sophisticated nano-structures assembled with magnets (2/21/2009)

What do Saturn and flowers have in common? ...> Full Article

Nanoparticles double their chances of getting into sticky situations (2/20/2009)

Chemistry researchers at the University of Warwick have found that tiny nanoparticles could be twice as likely to stick to the interface of two non mixing liquids than previously believed. This opens up a range of new possibilities for the uses of nanoparticles in living cells, polymer composites, and high-tech foams, gels, and paints. The researchers are also working on ways of further artificially enhancing this new found sticking power. ...> Full Article

Nanoparticle toxicity doesn't get wacky at the smallest sizes (2/19/2009)

Big and small nanoparticles affect most genes similarly ...> Full Article

Scientists prove graphene's edge structure affects electronic properties (2/18/2009)

Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon, holds remarkable promise for future nanoelectronics applications. However, whether graphene actually cuts it in industry depends upon how graphene is cut, say researchers at the University of Illinois. ...> Full Article

Nanogenerators produce electricity from running rodents and tapping fingers (2/18/2009)

Hamster pCould hamsters help solve the world's energy crisis? Probably not, but a hamster wearing a power-generating jacket is doing its own small part to provide a new and renewable source of electricity.ower ...> Full Article

New silver-based ink has applications in electronics, researchers say (2/17/2009)

A new ink, composed of silver nanoparticles, can be used in electronic and optoelectronic applications to create flexible, stretchable and spanning microelectrodes that carry signals from one circuit element to another. The printed microelectrodes can withstand repeated bending and stretching with minimal change in their electrical properties. ...> Full Article

Chemists create two-armed nanorobotic device to maneuver world's tiniest particles (2/17/2009)

Chemists at New York University and China's Nanjing University have developed a two-armed nanorobotic device that can manipulate molecules within a device built from DNA. The device is described in the latest issue of the journal Nature Nanotechnology. ...> Full Article

Nanoscale materials grow with the flow (2/16/2009)

Ames Lab physicist observes novel liquid-like motion and nucleation in metallic nanostructures ...> Full Article

Viscosity-enhancing nanomaterials may double service life of concrete (2/15/2009)

NIST engineers are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key is a nano-sized additive. ...> Full Article

Engineers revolutionize nano-device fabrication using amorphous metals (2/14/2009)

Yale engineers have created a process that may revolutionize the manufacture of nano-devices from computer chips to biomedical sensors by exploiting a novel type of metal. The material can be molded like plastics to create features at the nanoscale and yet is more durable and stronger than silicon or steel. The work is reported in the Feb. 12 issue of Nature. ...> Full Article

Molecular machines drive plasmonic nanoswitches (2/13/2009)

Plasmonics -- a possible replacement for current computing approaches -- may pave the way for the next generation of computers that operate faster and store more information than electronically-based systems and are smaller than optically-based systems, according to a Penn State engineer who has developed a plasmonic switch. ...> Full Article

Research highlights potential for improved solar cells (2/12/2009)

Certain nanocrystals shown to generate more than one electron ...> Full Article

Batteries get a boost at Rice (2/10/2009)

Researchers create hybrid nanocables to improve lithium battery technology ...> Full Article

Carbon nanotube avalanche process nearly doubles current (2/10/2009)

By pushing carbon nanotubes close to their breaking point, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated a remarkable increase in the current-carrying capacity of the nanotubes, well beyond what was previously thought possible. ...> Full Article

Simplicity is crucial to design optimization at nanoscale (2/8/2009)

MIT researchers who study the structure of protein-based materials to learn the key to their lightweight and robust strength have discovered that the particular arrangement of proteins that produces the sturdiest product is not the arrangement with the most built-in redundancy or the most complicated pattern. Instead, the optimal arrangement of proteins in the rope-like structures they studied is a repeated pattern of two stacks of four bundled alpha-helical proteins. ...> Full Article

Nanotube's 'tapestry' controls its growth (2/7/2009)

PNAS study answers longstanding mystery about carbon nanomaterials ...> Full Article

Nanoscopic static electricity generates chiral patterns (2/6/2009)

Researchers at Northwestern University in the group of Monica Olvera de la Cruz, professor of materials science and engineering and chemical and biological engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, have recently shown how electrostatic interactions -- commonly known as static electricity -- alone can give rise to helical shapes. The group has constructed a mathematical model that can capture all possible regular shapes chiral objects could have, and they computed the preferred arrangements induced by electrostatic interactions. ...> Full Article

Nanotechnology makes supertelescopes much more sensitive (2/5/2009)

Nanotechnologist Chris Lodewijk has succeeded in significantly increasing the sensitivity of the new supertelescopes in Chile. He will receive his Ph.D. on this topic at Delft University of Technology on Monday, Feb. 2. ...> Full Article

Researcher rolls out new nanocars (2/4/2009)

The drivers of Rice University's nanocars were surprised to find modified versions of their creation have the ability to roll at room temperature. While practical applications for the tiny machines may be years away, the breakthrough suggests they'll be easier to adapt to a wider range of uses than the originals, which had to be heated to 200 degrees Celsius before they could move across a surface. ...> Full Article

Researchers eye risks of quantum dots (2/3/2009)

A team of Rice researchers has been working to discover the health risks of quantum dots, molecule-sized semiconducting nanocrystals that are generally composed of heavy metals surrounded by an organic shell. ...> Full Article

Capture of nanomagnetic 'fingerprints' a boost for next-generation information storage media (2/2/2009)

A technique of capturing the magnetic "fingerprints" of magnetic nanostructures -- even when they are buried within the boards and junctions of an electronic device -- has been developed by a team of researchers at University of California, Davis. The technique should serve as a valuable tool in the development of next-generation storage and recording media by contributing to the understanding of how to encode information with nanomagnetic arrays. ...> Full Article