Understanding the reinforcing ability of carbon nanotubes

A new study explores what is preventing the reinforcing ability of carbon nanotubes from being used in a ceramic matrix.

New method allows for greater variation in band gap tunability

The method can change a material's electronic band gap by up to 200 percent.

Generating Moebius strips of light

Researchers have experimentally produced Möbius strips from the polarization of light, confirming a theoretical prediction that it is possible for light?s electromagnetic field to assume this peculiar shape.

Using a single molecule to create a new magnetic field sensor

Scientists show how magnetism can manipulate the way electricity flows through a single molecule, a key step that could enable the development of magnetic field sensors for hard drives that are a tiny fraction of their present size.

Best practice guide for the safe handling and use of nanoparticles in packaging industries

A novel best practice guide is now available to support the safe handling and use of nanoparticles in packaging industries.

DNA nanoswitches reveal how life's molecules connect (w/video)

An accessible new way to study molecular interactions could lower cost and time associated with discovering new drugs.

Pinholes are pitfalls for high performance solar cells

The most popular next-generation solar cells under development may have a problem - the top layer is full of tiny pinholes, researchers have found.

DIADEMS - finding the sensor behind the sparkle

By modifying the structure of a diamond crystal, the DIADEMS project creates a new material that could be used in applications, from the creation of smart medicines to the next generation computers.

Paper-based nanoparticle test kit detects dengue antibodies from saliva

Finding out whether you have been infected with dengue may soon be as easy as spitting into a rapid test kit. The paper-based disposable device will allow dengue-specific antibodies to be detected easily from saliva within 20 minutes. This device is currently undergoing further development for commercialization.

The nanomedicines of the future will build on quantum chemistry

Quantum chemical calculations have been used to solve big mysteries in space. Soon the same calculations may be used to produce tomorrow's cancer drugs.

Dry adhesives controlled by a magnetic field

A magnetic field controllable dry adhesive device is manufactured. The normal adhesion force can be increased or decreased depending on the presence of an applied magnetic field.

Spiders spinning electrically charged nanofibers

A spider commonly found in garden centres in Britain is giving fresh insights into how to spin incredibly long and strong fibres just a few nanometres thick.

Demystifying nanocrystal solar cells

Researchers have developed a comprehensive model to explain how electrons flow inside new types of solar cells made of tiny crystals. The model allows for a better understanding of such cells and may help to increase their efficiency.

Electronic circuits with reconfigurable pathways closer to reality

Multitasking circuits capable of reconfiguring themselves in real time and switching functions as the need arises - this is the promising application stemming from a new discovery.

Joint international research project leads to a breakthrough in terahertz spectroscopy

Although terahertz spectroscopy has great potential, especially for environmental monitoring and security screening applications, it previously could not be used effectively to study nanocrystals or molecules at extremely low concentrations. An international team has found a solution to this problem by increasing the technique's sensitivity using metallic nanostructures.

Nanowire clothing could keep people warm

Scientists have developed a novel nanowire coating for clothes that can both generate heat and trap the heat from our bodies better than regular clothes.

Researchers use sound to slow down, speed up, and block light

Researchers have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, the phenomenon of Brillouin Scattering Induced Transparency (BSIT), which can be used to slow down, speed up, and block light in an optical waveguide. The BSIT phenomenon permits light to travel in the forward direction while light traveling in the backward direction is strongly absorbed.

Building a graphene-based future for Europe

The European Union is investing heavily in the exploitation of graphene's unique properties through a number of research initiatives such as the SEMANTICS project running at Trinity College Dublin.

Nanoscale mirrored cavities amplify, connect quantum memories

Advance could lead to quantum computing and the secure transfer of information over long-distance fiber optic networks.

Holes in valence bands of nanodiamonds discovered

Researchers hope that their properties might be altered to permit nanodiamonds to be used as catalysts for generating hydrogen from sunlight.

'Rapid response to Ebola' grant

Health care workers must diagnose and isolate Ebola victims at an early stage to have a chance to save them and prevent the virus from spreading. But the most sensitive and quickest diagnostic test produces a small percentage of false negative results that undermine efforts to control the deadly agent. A $100,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant has been awarded to develop a method to reduce the risk of the virus going undetected.

Engineer receives NSF CAREER award for nanotechnology research, educational outreach

A prestigious award will support a Kansas State University engineer's research on nanosheets and will help organize educational activities for high school students and teachers.

Nanoscale lubrication of ionic surfaces

Friction impacts motion, hence the need to control friction forces. Currently, this is accomplished by mechanistic means or lubrication, but experiments conducted by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered a way of controlling friction on ionic surfaces at the nanoscale using electrical stimulation and ambient water vapor.

Stomach acid-powered micromotors get their first test in a living animal (w/video)

Scientists have shown that a micromotor fueled by stomach acid can take a bubble-powered ride inside a mouse. These tiny motors, each about one-fifth the width of a human hair, may someday offer a safer and more efficient way to deliver drugs or diagnose tumors.

New pathway to valleytronics

A potential avenue to quantum computing currently generating quite the buzz in the high-tech industry is 'valleytronics', in which information is coded based on the wavelike motion of electrons moving through certain two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors. Now, a promising new pathway to valleytronic technology has been uncovered.

The laser pulse that gets shorter all by itself

Ultrashort laser pulses have become an indispensable tool for atomic and molecular research; a new technology makes creating short infrared pulses easy and cheap.

Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply

Researchers have discovered that the insulation plastic used in high-voltage cables can withstand a 26 per cent higher voltage if nanometer-sized carbon balls are added. This could result in enormous efficiency gains in the power grids of the future, which are needed to achieve a sustainable energy system.

'Bulletproof' battery: Kevlar membrane for safer, thinner lithium rechargeables

New battery technology should be able to prevent the kind of fires that grounded Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2013. The innovation is an advanced barrier between the electrodes in a lithium-ion battery.

Peptide nanoparticle delivery of oligonucleotide drugs into cells

Therapeutic oligonucleotide analogs represent a new and promising family of drugs that act on nucleic acid targets such as RNA or DNA; however, their effectiveness has been limited due to difficulty crossing the cell membrane. A new delivery approach based on cell-penetrating peptide nanoparticles can efficiently transport charge-neutral oligonucleotide analogs into cells.

Researchers use oxides to flip graphene conductivity

By demonstrating a new way to change the amount of electrons that reside in a given region within a piece of graphene, scientists have a proof-of-principle in making the fundamental building blocks of semiconductor devices using the 2D material.

Engineering self-assembling amyloid fibers

Researchers have come up with methods to manipulate natural proteins so that they self-assemble into amyloid fibrils.

Solid or liquid - the nanoparticle size matters

Researchers elucidate how the phase state of aerosol nanoparticles depends on their size.

Electronic circuits with reconfigurable pathways closer to reality

Will it be possible one day to reconfigure electronic microchips however we want, even when they are in use? A recent discovery suggests as much. The researchers have demonstrated that it is possible to create conductive pathways several atoms wide in a material, to move them around at will and even to make them disappear.

Nanoshuttle wear and tear: It's the mileage, not the age

Researchers observed a molecular shuttle powered by kinesin motor proteins and found it to degrade when operating, marking the first time, they say, that degradation has been studied in detail in an active, autonomous nanomachine.

Researchers make magnetic graphene

Researchers have found an ingenious way to induce magnetism in graphene while also preserving graphene's electronic properties. They have accomplished this by bringing a graphene sheet very close to a magnetic insulator - an electrical insulator with magnetic properties.

Chemists control structure to unlock magnetization and polarization simultaneously

Chemists have controlled the structure of a material to simultaneously generate both magnetisation and electrical polarisation, an advance which has potential applications in information storage and processing.

Entanglement on a chip: Breakthrough promises secure communications and faster computers

A team of scientists has developed, for the first time, a microscopic component that is small enough to fit onto a standard silicon chip that can generate a continuous supply of entangled photons.

Nanodiamonds may provide more effective cancer treatment

A new study shows that when the chemotherapy drug Epirubicin is attached to nanodiamonds, the treatment is more effective and patients suffer from less side effects.

Visualizing interacting electrons in a molecule

Scientists have succeeded in directly imaging how electrons interact within a single molecule.

Detecting cancer at the atomic level

Igor Sokolov's nanoscale research could yield better ways to identify and track malignant cells.

Chromium-centered cycloparaphenylene rings for making functionalized nanocarbons

Chemists have synthesized novel transition metal-complexed cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) that enable selective monofunctionalization of CPPs for the first time, opening doors to the construction of unprecedented nanocarbons.

Graphene enables electrical control of energy flow from light emitters

Scientists from Europe's Graphene Flagship have demonstrated active, in-situ electrical control of energy flow from erbium ions into photons and surface plasmons.

Improvements in transistors will make flexible plastic computers a reality

Researchers at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science revealed that improvements should soon be expected in the manufacture of transistors that can be used, for example, to make flexible, paper-thin computer screens.

The latest fashion: Graphene edges can be tailor-made

Theory shows it should be possible to tune material's properties.

Diaper compound may expand power of microscopes

Expansion microscopy is a process that enlarges cell structures, allowing scientists to take nanoscale pictures of healthy and disease tissue throughout the body using common microscopes.

Silver nanowires demonstrate unexpected self-healing mechanism

Researchers found that silver nanowires can withstand strong cyclic loads, which is a key attribute needed for flexible electronics.

SUN organizes successful 1st Sustainable Nanotechnology School

The SUN project has successfully hosted the first Sustainable Nanotechnology School, with over 70 participants coming from all over Europe, United States and Brazil and 21 speakers chosen among the most prominent experts on environmental, health and safety (EHS) implications and sustainable applications of nanomaterials.

Nanotechnology changes behavior of materials used in solar cells

Engineers have developed a technique to increase the performance and electrical conductivity of thin films that make up solar cell materials using nanotechnology.

New technique helps probe performance of organic solar cell materials

The researchers have used the technique to determine that materials with a highly organized structure at the nanoscale are not more efficient at creating free electrons than poorly organized structures - a finding which will help guide future research and development efforts.

Scientists 'bend' elastic waves with new metamaterials that could have commercial applications

Materials could benefit imaging and military enhancements such as elastic cloaking.

Exotic, giantic molecules fit inside each other like Russian nesting dolls

Scientists have experimentally observed for the first time a phenomenon in ultracold, three-atom molecules predicted by Russian theoretical physicsist Vitaly Efimov in 1970.

Is glass a true solid?

Does glass ever stop flowing? Researchers have combined computer simulation and information theory, originally invented for telephone communication and cryptography, to answer this puzzling question.

Size matters: The importance of building small things

Strong materials, such as concrete, are usually heavy, and lightweight materials, such as rubber (for latex gloves) and paper, are usually weak and susceptible to tearing and damage. Julia R. Greer, professor of materials science and mechanics at Caltech is helping to break that linkage.

Gold 'nano-drills'

Spherical gold particles are able to ?drill? a nano-diameter tunnel in ceramic material when heated. This is an easy and attractive way to equip chips with nanopores for DNA analysis, for example.

Das perfekte Baumaterial für Nano-Roboter

In Stuttgart werden extrem belastbare Faden-Kristalle im Vakuum hergestellt.

Graphene-boron nitride heterostructures propagate light at the nanoscale

A new study exploits near-field microscopy to image propagating plasmons in high-quality graphene encapsulated between two films of hexagonal ?boron nitride. It finds unprecedentedly low plasmon damping combined with strong field confinement and confirms the high uniformity of this plasmonic medium.

A simple route to prepare stable liquid marbles

The aim of new research on the development of 'liquid marbles', also known as dry water, is to better understand the behaviour of this compound, in order to make advances in the use of cheaper materials, such as polystyrene.

Stable long term operation of graphene devices achieved

Researchers have demonstrated a sophisticated encapsulation technique enabling highly reproducible operation of graphene devices in normal atmosphere for several months.

Graphene nanosensor determines caffeine and other componets in tea

Researchers used a simple, cost-effective and eco-friendly method to produce a sensor based on graphene oxide nano-sheets with high sensitivity and simultaneously measure useful components of tea.

Stretching and twisting RNA molecules

Single-molecule experiments reveal surprising differences amongst the 'molecular cousins' DNA and RNA when stretched and twisted.

NSF grant to extend lifespan of Li-ion batteries, make them more environmentally friendly

A Virginia Commonwealth University professor has received a five-year, $505,000 award from the National Science Foundation to make lithium-ion batteries - which power electric vehicles and portable electronic devices - far more efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Transparent artificial nacre: A brick wall at the nanoscale

Scientists prepared a nacre-inspired nanocomposite that combines exceptional mechanical properties with glass-like transparency and a high gas- and fire-barrier.

Graphene brings quantum effects to electronic circuits

Research by scientists attached to the EC's Graphene Flagship has revealed a superfluid phase in ultra-low temperature 2D materials, creating the potential for electronic devices which dissipate very little energy.

Smart keyboard cleans and powers itself - and can tell who you are

In a novel twist in cybersecurity, scientists have developed a self-cleaning, self-powered smart keyboard that can identify computer users by the way they type.

The path to artificial photosynthesis

Researchers describe an efficient manganese catalyst capable of converting light to chemical energy.

Better metal contact improves two-dimensional transistor performance

Researchers found that silver provides a much better electrical contact to MoS2 than the widely used titanium, with the silver-contact devices having 60 times higher current when the device is in the 'on' state. These results are another step towards the advanced manufacture of high-value products based on 2D materials.