Nanoparticles
Lithium-ion battery strategy offers more energy, longer lifecycle
June 28, 2012 4:26 am | News | CommentsLithium-ion batteries drive devices from electric cars to smartphones. And society is demanding more batteries with more capacity from each battery. To help meet this demand, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory users and researchers put their energy behind a clever new idea that, literally, gives batteries a bit of room to grow.
Bone growth accelerated through stem cell manipulation
June 25, 2012 1:45 pm | by Steven Powell | News | CommentsIf you break a bone, you know you'll end up in a cast for weeks. But what if the time it took to heal a break could be cut in half, or even just a tenth of the time? Researchers report they have coated surfaces with bionanoparticles sourced from a modified virus. These particles accelerated early phase bone growth, reducing the conversion of stem cells to bone nodules from two weeks to two days.
Chemist explores nanotechnology in search of cheaper solar cells
June 20, 2012 3:56 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Illinois-Chicago chemist Luke Hanley is a big believer in harnessing solar energy to produce electricity. Doing it more efficiently is his goal. He recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation to test methods of coating solar panel films using nanoparticles from a chemical group called metal chalcogenides.
Study sheds light on controlling the size of gold nanoparticles
June 18, 2012 6:36 am | News | CommentsNorth Carolina State University researchers have shown that the "bulkiness" of molecules commonly used in the creation of gold nanoparticles actually dictates the size of the nanoparticles—with larger so-called ligands resulting in smaller nanoparticles. The research team also found that each type of ligand produces nanoparticles in a particular array of discrete sizes.
Nanoparticles promise to improve blood cancer treatment
June 15, 2012 12:07 pm | News | CommentsResearchers from the University of Notre Dame have engineered nanoparticles that show great promise for the treatment of multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.
Taking hybrids for a spin to generate electricity from sunlight
June 12, 2012 11:51 am | News | CommentsEven at the nanoscale, hybrids show promise—as evidenced by new efforts to pair inorganic nanoparticles with conductive polymers to convert sunlight into electricity or build better biosensors. To make the most of these molecular matchups, however, scientists need to understand the small-scale details of charge transfer—and how to control it.
Moon glass bubble discovery explains weird lunar soil behavior
June 12, 2012 6:44 am | News | CommentsScientists had long observed the unusual properties of lunar topsoil but had not taken much notice of the microparticles and nanoparticles found in the soil and their source was unknown. When these tiny glass bubbles were examined, they differed greatly from what is usually found in similar structures on Earth.
Researchers develop new graphene-based MRI contrast agent
June 8, 2012 4:00 am | News | CommentsA team of researchers has developed a new, highly efficacious, potentially safer, and more cost-effective nanoparticle-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent for improved disease diagnosis and detection.
Zeroing in on the best shape for cancer-fighting nanoparticles
June 6, 2012 12:40 pm | News | CommentsAs the field of nanomedicine matures, an emerging point of contention has been what shape nanoparticles should be to deliver their drug or DNA payloads most effectively. A pair of new papers by scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute (TMHRI) and six other institutions suggests these microscopic workhorses ought to be disc-shaped, not spherical or rod-shaped, when targeting cancers at or near blood vessels.
New research leads to sensors that detect contaminants in water
June 6, 2012 3:51 am | News | CommentsMany organic contaminants in the air and in drinking water need to be detected at very low-level concentrations. Research published by the Kamat laboratory at the University of Notre Dame could be beneficial in detecting those contaminants. The Kamat laboratory uses surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to make use of silver nanoparticles to increase the sensitivity limit of chemical detection.
Nanoparticles seek, destroy groundwater toxins
June 4, 2012 4:25 am | News | CommentsIron nanoparticles encapsulated in a rust-preventing polymer coating could hold potential for cleaning up groundwater contaminated with toxic chemicals, a leading water expert from the University of New South Wales says.
Researchers achieve RNA interference in a lighter package
June 4, 2012 3:36 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsUsing a technique known as "nucleic acid origami," chemical engineers have built tiny particles made out of DNA and RNA that can deliver snippets of RNA directly to tumors, turning off genes expressed in cancer cells.
When nanoparticles become “artificial atoms”
May 24, 2012 12:07 pm | by Lynn Yarris | News | CommentsThe contention of a major but controversial new theory to explain nanocrystal growth is that nanoparticles can act as “artificial atoms,” forming molecular-type building blocks that can assemble into complex structures. The conclusion is based on recent observations of growing nanorods made by Lawrence Berkeley National Laoratory researchers using transmission electron microscopy and advanced liquid cell handling techniques.
Modified nanoparticle opens window on future gene editing technologies
May 24, 2012 8:25 am | News | CommentsThe scientific and technological literature is abuzz with nanotechnology and its manufacturing and medical applications. But it is in an area with a less glitzy aura—plant sciences—where nanotechnology advancements are contributing dramatically to agriculture. Researchers at Iowa State University have now demonstrated the ability to deliver proteins and DNA into plant cells, simultaneously.
Study: Quantum dots appear safe in pioneering study on primates
May 21, 2012 4:21 am | News | CommentsA year-long evaluation of the effect of quantum dots in primates has found the nanoparticles to be safe, encouraging doctors and scientists who are hoping to use them to battle diseases like cancer. Cadmium selenide quantum dots were the variety used in the study.
Quantum dots brighten, whiten the future of lighting
May 9, 2012 5:45 am | by David Salisbury | News | CommentsWhite-light quantum dots made from cadmium selenide can convert blue light produced by a light-emitting diode into a warm white light similar to that generated by an incandescent bulb. But their performance has been poor until recent development breakthroughs have improved efficiency from just 3% originally to as high as 45%.
New technique uses electrons to map nanoparticle atomic structures
May 4, 2012 9:12 am | News | CommentsA team of scientists has been working to develop nanocrystallography techniques that can be used in ordinary science settings. They have shown how a powerful method called atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis can be carried out using a transmission electron microscope.
Light touch keeps a grip on delicate nanoparticles
May 3, 2012 9:34 am | News | CommentsUsing a refined technique for trapping and manipulating nanoparticles, researchers at NIST have extended the trapped particles' useful life more than tenfold. This new approach, which one researcher likens to "attracting moths," promises to give experimenters the trapping time they need to build nanoscale structures and may open the way to working with nanoparticles inside biological cells without damaging the cells with intense laser light.
Bejeweled: Nanotech gets boost from nanowire decorations
April 30, 2012 4:04 am | by Andrew Myers | News | CommentsEngineers at Stanford University have found a novel method for “decorating” nanowires with chains of tiny particles to increase their electrical and catalytic performance. The new technique is simpler, faster and provides greater control than earlier methods and could lead to better batteries, solar cells and catalysts.
FDA issues draft guidance on nanotechnology
April 22, 2012 1:41 pm | News | CommentsThe U.S. government has issued its initial draft guidelines on the use of nanotechnology, particularly nanoparticles, in food and cosmetic products. These recommendations, intended to help guarantee consumer safety within these two industries, do not extend to the other products that fall under Food and Drug Administration oversights, such as drugs and medical devices.
Nanodot-based memory sets new world speed record
April 18, 2012 12:28 pm | News | CommentsA team of researchers from Taiwan and the University of California, Berkeley, has harnessed nanodots, just 3 nm in diameter, to create a new electronic memory technology that can write and erase data 10 to 100 times faster than today's mainstream charge-storage memory products.
Lanthanides expand list of upconverting luminescent particles
April 13, 2012 3:14 am | News | CommentsThe light that a luminescent particle emits is usually less energetic than the light that it absorbs. Some applications require the emitted light to be more energetic, but this so-called upconversion process has been observed in only a small handful of materials. Researchers in Singapore have recently succeeded in expanding this list of upconversion materials by using different lanthanides at different stages of conversion.
Energy dissipation from gold nanoparticles a product of environment
April 12, 2012 12:43 pm | News | CommentsMetal nanoparticles could play a key role in next-generation light detectors, optical circuits, and cancer therapies. For these future technologies to be realized, it is important to understand what happens when nanoparticles are caused to undergo vibrations, and the consequent scattering of light that can occur due to oscillations. Researchers in Singapore have now analyzed the effect of different environments on individual gold nanoparticles.
Nanoparticles keep wood preservatives where they belong
April 12, 2012 5:05 am | by Marcia Goodrich | News | CommentsPressure-treated wood is a valuable invention, but the chemicals used to preserve it from decay can leach out, where they can be toxic to bugs, fungi and other creatures. A team of Michigan Technological University scientists has used nanotechnology to keep the chemicals inside the wood where they belong.
Precision tests of catalyst defects expands to oxides
April 10, 2012 2:38 pm | News | CommentsA newly developed combination device for infrared spectroscopy has allowed researchers in Germany to conduct highly precise measurements of the vibration frequency of oxide materials at the surface. Surface defect analyses have previously been well-documented for metals, but materials such as titanium dioxide haven’t before been studied in such detail.
