Could a nanoparticle stem the plague of citrus greening?

USDA grant funds field trials of Zinkicide, a nanoparticle bactericide.

Optics, nanotechnology combined to create low-cost sensor for gases

Engineers have combined innovative optical technology with nanocomposite thin-films to create a new type of sensor that is inexpensive, fast, highly sensitive and able to detect and analyze a wide range of gases.

A new breakthrough in thermoelectric materials

Researchers have developed a scalable production method for a state of the art alloy for the use in solid state thermoelectric devices. This new alloy is nearly twice as efficient as existing materials and may lead to a new host of applications. Uses include refrigeration, consumer electronics, transportation as well as novel devices which have not been produced yet do to the inefficiencies of existing materials.

Nanoparticles may exploit tumor weaknesses to selectively attack cancers

Delving into the world of the extremely small, researchers are exploring how biodegradable nanoparticles can precisely deliver anticancer drugs to attack neuroblastoma, an often-deadly children's cancer. The approach may represent a new fourth arm of targeted pediatric cancer treatment, joining T-cell immunotherapy, radioactive isotopes and kinase inhibitors that disrupt cancer-driving signaling.

Enzymatically active ultrathin pepsin membrane

Novel enzymatically active membranes can complete two steps in one: they can enzymatically split proteins and simultaneously separate the products. The membranes are produced by cross-linking pepsin on a porous support, a simple process that is also applicable to other enzymes and on an industrial scale.

Researchers observe new charge transport phenomenon

Researchers noticed a new kind of transport phenomenon for charges. In the phenomenon, a pair formed by a negative electron and a positive charge moves onto an interface, after which its 'message' is passed on to the other side of the interface, where it is carried on by a similar pair. The new theoretical result opens up interesting prospects for carrying out logical operations in electronics.

Scientists combine two nanomaterials to create quick-charging hybrid supercapacitors

Charge storage device created at California NanoSystems Institute is vast improvement over existing models.

Diving electrons

Findings on how electrons are solvated in water widen the range of potential influences on chemical reactions.

Two-dimensional dirac materials: Structure, properties, and rarity

The development of graphene is closely related to the unique electronic structure, that is, Dirac cones. The cone which represents linear energy dispersion at Fermi level gives graphene massless fermions, leading to various quantum Hall effects, ultra high carrier mobility, and many other novel phenomena and properties.

3-D neural structure guided with biocompatible nanofiber scaffolds and hydrogels

Damage to neural tissue is typically permanent and causes lasting disability in patients, but a new approach has recently been discovered that holds incredible potential to reconstruct neural tissue at high resolution in three dimensions. It demonstrated a method for embedding scaffolding of patterned nanofibers within three-dimensional hydrogel structures, and it was shown that neurite outgrowth from neurons in the hydrogel followed the nanofiber scaffolding by tracking directly along the nanofibers, particularly when the nanofibers were coated with a type of cell adhesion molecule called laminin.

Light-powered gyroscope is world's smallest: Promises a powerful spin on navigation

A pair of light waves - one zipping clockwise the other counterclockwise around a microscopic track - may hold the key to creating the world's smallest gyroscope: one a fraction of the width of a human hair. By bringing this essential technology down to an entirely new scale, a team of applied physicists hopes to enable a new generation of phenomenally compact gyroscope-based navigation systems, among other intriguing applications.

Nanoparticles provide novel way to apply drugs to dental plaque

Therapeutic agents intended to reduce dental plaque and prevent tooth decay are often removed by saliva and the act of swallowing before they can take effect. But a team of researchers has developed a way to keep the drugs from being washed away.

Artificial crystal: Magnetism in World Cup fever

Rydberg atoms can be used to produce magnetic crystals in an optical lattice.

Mind the gap: Nanoscale speed bump could regulate plasmons for high-speed data flow

A novel nanomechanical plasmonic phase modulator harnesses tiny electron waves called plasmons. It's a step towards enabling computers to process information hundreds of times faster than today's machines.