Nanowerk Nanotechnology News

Stunning image of Olympicene - the smallest possible five-ringed structure (w/video)

Scientists have created and imaged the smallest possible five-ringed structure - about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair - and you'll probably recognize its shape.

SCENIHR receives request for a scientific opinion on nanosilver

The Scientific Committee on Emerging and newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has received a request for a scientific opinion on Nanosilver: safety, health and environmental effects and role in antimicrobial resistance.

Ultrasmall nanoparticles show promise as anti-cancer agents

Researchers in China showed that nanoparticles smaller than 10 nm in diameter accumulate more efficiently and penetrate more deeply in tumors relative to their larger counterparts. Their findings have significant implications for the development of nanomaterials to diagnose and treat cancer. The enhanced tumor accumulation of the ultrasmall nanoparticles may be due, at least in part, to their prolonged blood circulation time. In contrast, most nanomaterials that enter the blood are rapidly cleared by tissue-resident macrophages in the liver and spleen. Ultimately, the ability of ultrasmall nanoparticles to diffuse deep within the tumor bulk may enable the design of nanoparticles that can carry therapeutic and diagnostic agents more efficiently into tumors.

Frequency stabilization in nonlinear nanomechanical oscillators

Using expertise in the design and fabrication of micro- and nanoscale devices, a new strategy for engineering low-frequency noise oscillators capitalizes on the intrinsic nonlinear phenomena of micro- and nanomechanical resonators.

Researchers develop a scalable method to produce improved yields of single-layer graphene

London Centre for Nanotechnology researchers have developed a scalable solution-based method that produces greatly improved yields of single-layer graphene, which can then be deposited onto substrates.

RUSNANO Board of Directors Approves Company's First Exit from Investment Project

RUSNANO sells its 27.6 percent equity stake in Advanced Technologies Center, a leading producer of scanning probe microscopes and atomic scales. The sale to the project applicant, NPP CPT will generate IRR of 29.5 percent on RUSNANO's investment.

Graphene-control cutting using an atomic force microscope-based nanorobot

Current methods can tailor graphene, however, lack of real-time sensor feedback during patterning and cutting results in an open-loop manufacturing process. This greatly limits the cutting precision of graphene and reduces the efficiency of device manufacture. Therefore, a closed-loop fabrication method using interaction forces as real-time feedback is needed to tailor graphene into desired edge structures and shapes in a controllable manner.

Spaceprobe reveals details about charged 'nanograins' near Saturn moon Enceladus

Charged dust grains found in geyser plumes that supply outer ring of Saturn.

MURI grants target controlled propagation of signals in nanostructures, cell-based sensors

Rice University scientists are set to lead one research team and are part of a second among the 23 awards announced by the Department of Defense (DOD) under its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program. The DOD grants total $155 million.

'Unzipped' carbon nanotubes could help energize fuel cells and batteries

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes riddled with defects and impurities on the outside could replace some of the expensive platinum catalysts used in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, according to scientists at Stanford University.

Computer model pinpoints prime materials for efficient carbon capture

Model vets millions of structures to find ones that will improve efficiency of current technology.

Super-sensitive tests could detect diseases earlier

Scientists have developed an ultra-sensitive test that should enable them to detect signs of a disease in its earliest stages.

High-speed method to aid search for solar energy storage catalysts

Scientists describe a new high-throughput method to identify electrocatalysts for water oxidation.

Thousands of invisibility cloaks trap a rainbow

Many people anticipating the creation of an invisibility cloak might be surprised to learn that a group of American researchers has created 25 000 individual cloaks.

In Nullkommanichts durch den Quantentunnel

Wenn Elektronen die Energie zum Ueberwinden einer Energiebarriere nicht haben, "tunneln" sie einfach durch diese Barriere hindurch - in der Quantenwelt nichts Ungewoehnliches. Forscher koennen den Zeitpunkt des Austritts aus der Barriere zum ersten Mal exakt bestimmen.

Nanotechnology for for a sustainable process industry: Metal-free catalysts

The EU has awarded 4 million Euros to a new research project that will develop carbon materials to replace precious metals needed in catalysis. The research will help make the production of chemicals and commodities greener.

Unique Environmental Isolation Solutions for Unique Research Applications

Herzan designs customer specific environmental isolation solutions that focus on three important tenants - excellent value, premium quality and exceptional performance.

Researchers realize the world's first oxidation reaction with well-defined molecular alignment and spin directions

The NIMS Nano Characterization Unit developed the world's first O2 molecular beam which enables us to designate the alignment of the molecular axis and spin direction.

Illuminating lassos for cellular insights

Real-time monitoring of RNA splicing in living cells moves a step closer with the development of a novel fluorescent probe.

Nano-structured polymer-based materials from scrap

EU-funded researchers developed polymer blends and processing techniques facilitating recovery of scrap from industrial processes. Advances in this area have the potential to decrease costs and waste while protecting the environment.

Researchers test nanofiltration solar desalination system for arid land agriculture

The solar-powered system uses nanofiltration membranes to treat the local brackish water, resulting in high-quality desalinated irrigation water. The results of the Josefowitz Oasis Project indicate that irrigation with desalinated water yields higher productivity from water and inorganic fertilizers compared with current practices.

Nanotechnology for solar energy conversion systems

Researchers extensively characterised the self-organisation of nanotubes and developed novel compositions particularly appropriate to solar energy conversion applications.

Medical membrane nanotechnology from lab to market

EU-funded researchers established a Network of Excellence for membrane nanotechnology relevant to the medical sector that should enhance cooperation between research and small business.

Cost-effective, high quality carbon nanotubes

Researchers compared carbon nanotube synthesis techniques to develop the most cost-effective high quality electronic device products.

Why is the (nano-)dose question so important?

A substance might potentially be harmful or even toxic for a biological system, provided that the quantity or the concentration (the "dose") is high enough. This principle forms the basis for health standards which determine the maximum permissible concentration of contaminations, for example in food, water or in the environment. Dose calculation is of high relevance for risk assessment as well as for regulations, for instance to determine the maximum allowable concentration of chemicals and particles or to determine other limits which do not cause health problems. In the case of nanomaterials, especially for nanoparticles there is to date, no limit regulation or any other regulation referring to dose, because the definition of dose for nanoparticles does not exist. The wherefores will be explained in this dossier.

Forscher bauen Minikraftwerke aus Silizium

Ungenutzte Waerme in nutzbare Energie umwandeln - das kann der 18 mm breite, 21 mm lange und 6 mm hohe thermoelektrische Generator aus Nano-Silizium.

Networking for nanotechnology

The NAPANIL Industrial Day was the second such event focusing on the myriad issues impacting this area of research, and was hosted by the Germany-based group micro resist technology GmbH.

Nanofluidics sorts DNA one molecule at a time to study cancer-causing changes

Cornell nanotechnology researchers have devised a new tool to study epigenetic changes in DNA that can cause cancer and other diseases: a nanoscale fluidic device that sorts and collects DNA, one molecule at a time.

Researchers prove new circuit pattern-design process, see promise for 14 nanometer design with directed self-assembly

Researchers sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), the world's leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, today announced that they have successfully created contact hole patterns for a wide variety of practical logic and memory devices using a next-generation directed self-assembly (DSA) process.

Scientists uncover a photosynthetic puzzle

Quantum physics and plant biology seem like two branches of science that could not be more different, but surprisingly they may in fact be intimately tied.

Mystifying materials

New materials contract when they should expand, expand when they should contract.

Synthetic nano-waste does not disappear

Tiny particles of cerium oxide do not burn or change in the heat of a waste incineration plant. They remain intact on combustion residues or in the incineration system, as a new study by researchers from ETH Zurich reveals.

Tanner EDA Announces Tanner Analog FastSPICE

Brings proven nanometer SPICE accuracy 5x-10x faster to Tanner EDA customer base.

Mentor DFM Analysis Service Delivers Calibre Litho Checks for TSMC 40nm and 28nm Customers

The service analyzes the customer's design database in accordance with TSMC's lithography process checking (LPC) flow. It then delivers a results database with hotspot locations and fixing hints that routers can use to perform corrections.

Uniquify Launches ideas2silicon Design Services Platform

Uniquify today launched ideas2silicon, a new and comprehensive design services platform that spans chip specification and design through volume delivery of packaged and tested parts.

Food, water safety provide new challenges for today's sensors

Sensors that work flawlessly in laboratory settings may stumble when it comes to performing in real-world conditions, according to researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Exotic particles, chilled and trapped, form giant matter wave

Physicists have trapped and cooled exotic particles called excitons so effectively that they condensed and cohered to form a giant matter wave.

Newly modified nanoparticle opens window on future gene editing technologies

Researchers at Iowa State University have now demonstrated the ability to deliver proteins and DNA into plant cells, simultaneously. This is important because it now opens up opportunities for more sophisticated and targeted plant genome editing-techniques that require the precise delivery of both protein and DNA to bring about specific gene modifications in crop plants.

A new record for graphene solar cell efficiency

Doping may be a no-no for athletes, but researchers in the University of Florida's physics department say it was key in getting unprecedented power conversion efficiency from a new graphene solar cell created in their lab.

Metamaterials, quantum dots show promise for new technologies

Researchers are edging toward the creation of new optical technologies using "nanostructured metamaterials" capable of ultra-efficient transmission of light, with potential applications including advanced solar cells and quantum computing.