Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

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Showing Spotlights 841 - 848 of 2761 in category All (newest first):

 

Controlling the structure and phase composition of lanthanide-doped alumina for emerging applications

alumina_latticeLanthanide dopants play an important role in desirable phase transformations of aluminum oxide (alumina) in order to achieve optimized physical and chemical properties. For example, the presence of dopants strengthens the grain boundaries of alumina, largely affecting its mechanical properties. New research indicates that there are significant structural changes to the lattice with addition of the dopant, and that understanding these effects will lead to future research for addressing these challenges.

Jan 9th, 2017

Combining catalytic and electrical contact edge-effects to engineer the transport properties of nanocontacts to nanowires

nanowire_contactsElectrical contacts are essential components for any electrical device and when a lack of control over the final properties is present designing and optimising the system is impossible. The ability to define the contacts as Schottky or Ohmic with high or low resistance is complicated by the 2-D, 1-D or quasi 1-D nature of many nanomaterials. That's why researchers have developed a deep understanding of a unique effect at these length scales that occurs in nanowires and combines the synergistic relationship between metal nanocatalyst particles and nanowires.

Jan 5th, 2017

Our top 10 nanotechnology spotlight articles 2016

inkjet_printingHere are the 10 most popular Nanowerk Nanotechnology Spotlight articles of 2016. This year, the list includes nanotechnology in textiles; nanotechnology for next-generation inkjet color printing; graphene-based smart contact lens works as self-powered biosensor; nanotechnology's tiny steps toward atomic-scale 3D fabrication; stick-on epidermal electronics tattoo to measure UV exposure; a nanotechnology approach to scavenging wind and solar energy in cities; 3D printing highly conductive nanocomposites; using household items to make a multi-sensory 'Paper Skin'; an analogue smart skin that is self-powered; and writing nanotubes with a nano fountain pen.

Dec 30th, 2016

Consistent-chirality carbon nanotube tangles with high on-current in transistors

CNT_tanglesGreat effort has been applied on the controllable synthesis of ideal carbon nanotubes (CNTs). However, it's almost impossible to directly synthesize pure semiconducting CNTs by an in situ catalytic reaction alone, without any post-separation, when only small amounts of metallic CNTs may cause catastrophic device shorting failures. That is why the synthesis of CNTs with consistent chirality and high density is facing a bottleneck. A group of researchers in China have creatively proposed a novel method by entangling an individual decimeter-long CNT with a diameter of 2 nm into a large tangle with high density and consistent chirality.

Dec 28th, 2016

Black gold maximizes the light absorption of nanomaterials

black_goldMaximizing light absorption of nanomaterials has been an emerging research field in the recent years due to its attractiveness in a wide range of applications that involves conversion or utilization of solar energy. However, most of the concepts reported are based on multi-layered architecture inspired by optical impedance matching concepts that requires complicated non-scalable fabrication process such as electron beam lithography. Efforts on maximizing light absorption via nanostructuring remain scarce. Researchers have now reported such a material - a nanolayer of black gold.

Dec 21st, 2016

An innovative magnetically activated thermal switch based on nanofluids

thermal_switchWith the exponential rise of power dissipation in electric devices such as integrated circuits or micro/nano electro mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), new thermal management solutions are in high demand. Thermal switches, being devices capable of controlling the temperature flow between two surfaces, are one of the solutions capable of effectively tackling this problem. In new work, researchers demonstrate an innovative magnetically actuated thermal switch based on nanofluids capable of controlling both the magnitude and direction of the heat flux. This device takes advantage of the thermal conductivity increase in magnetic nanofluids when submitted to an applied magnetic field parallel to the temperature gradient.

Dec 9th, 2016

Enhanced fuel cell performance using one atom thick 2D material

graphene_membraneMethanol fuel cells are widely considered as a potential source of future energy due to the usage of methanol as a liquid fuel; simplicity in operation; higher energy density of methanol fuel; high power density obtained etc. However their commercialization is greatly hindered by methanol crossover taking place in the membrane area of fuel cells, leading to short circuits and greatly affecting overall performance. By using two-dimensional (2D) materials - graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (hBn) - in methanol fuel cell systems, researchers now have overcome this bottleneck.

Dec 7th, 2016

Large-yield synthesis of 2D antimonene nanocrystals

van_der_Waals_epitaxyFollowing up on previous theoretical predictions, researchers now have demonstrated two high-yield methods for fabricating antimonenes - wide-band-gap semiconductors that under strain become direct band-gap semiconductors. Such dramatic transitions of electronic properties could open a new door for nanoscale transistors with high on/off ratio, blue/UV optoelectronic devices, and nanomechanical sensors based on new ultrathin semiconductors. The new approach is generic for various transparent conducting oxides as well as other oxide nanocrystal inks.

Dec 5th, 2016