Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

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Showing Spotlights 241 - 248 of 2762 in category All (newest first):

 

In-memory mathematical operations with spin-orbit torque devices

photographerResearchers introduce spin orbit torque (SOT) devices to experimentally realize in-memory analogue mathematical operations such as summation, subtraction and four-quadrant multiplication, to implement general-purpose applications such as image or signal processing for edge computing. In addition to nonvolatility and scalability, the CMOS-compatible SOT technique further possesses low energy consumption, high speed and endurance. Therefore, SOT devices offer an avenue for dense in-memory analogue computing paradigms.

Aug 16th, 2022

Identifying favorable immunological profiles suitable for personalized treatments with RNA nanoparticles

nucleic-acid-nanoparticleTherapeutic nucleic acids (TNAs) and nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) are designed to enact specific intracellular responses beneficial for various biomedical applications. TNAs become especially attractive to researchers and clinicians since their functional versatility, programmability and modularity show great promise for treating disorders such as viral infections, cancers, and genetic disorders. Scientists explore how the immune responses to NANPs change with various factors such as dimensionality (3D vs. 2D), composition (DNA vs. RNA), and functionalization with TNAs.

Aug 15th, 2022

Nanobiomimetic strategies for medicine

tumor-cellThe defenses of the body's immune system tend to destroy synthetic nanoparticles and frequently they are captured and removed from the body within few minutes. This, of course, is a major barrier to the use of nanotechnology in medicine. In order to evade the host immune response, researchers are demonstrating that the combination of nanomaterials and biomimetic strategies can change diverse nanomaterials from 'distinguishable state' to 'camouflage state' and thereby improving technologies for nanomedicine applications.

Aug 9th, 2022

Plasmonic nano-dynamite as power source for nanomachines

nanodynamiteOne convenient way to manipulate nanoscale objects with remote controllability is actuation and propulsion by light, which is largely based on optical and photothermal-induced forces. Unfortunately, the output of optical and photothermal-induced forces is small and speed is slow. This changes with a novel and intriguing nanoactuation system: plasmonic nanodynamite. This system can be optically triggered to eject gold nanobullets with an initial speed of up to 300 m/s.

Aug 8th, 2022

Microbatteries much smaller than a grain of rice for a smart dust future

micro-batteryOne of the challenges of realizing smart dust concepts, as well as nano- and microrobotics in general, is a lack of equally small on-chip power sources for ubiquitous anytime anywhere operation. Now, researchers have created an on-chip micro-Swiss-roll battery by using a self-assembly process known as micro-origami. The batteries are 3 mm in length and about 178 micros in diameter and the self-assembly mechanism allows for the parallel fabrication of multiple micro-Swiss rolls on the wafer in a single run.

Aug 5th, 2022

A nanofluidic osmotic energy generator

COF-nanoporesEnormous free-energy dissipation takes place when fresh river water mixes with salty sea water. This so-called osmotic energy, which normally goes to waste, can be harvested with nanostructured membranes that are put between the two types of water. Porous materials with intrinsic nano or sub-nanochannels, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are considered good candidates for nanofluidic osmotic energy harvesting. Here, researchers demonstrate an ultrathin, self-standing COF with excellent stability at different salt differential concentrations, pH values, and temperatures.

Aug 2nd, 2022

Reducing food waste with novel biomaterials technologies

rotten-strawberryFood waste reduction offers multi-faceted wins for people and planet, improving food security, addressing climate change, saving money and reducing pressures on land, water, biodiversity and waste management systems. Numerous approaches are being taken to tackle the food waste problem. Some of them are technology-based with the goal of sustainably producing more food with less inputs and to minimize food waste from farm to fork. Particularly interesting is the case of precision agriculture, where nanotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI), combined with robotics, geolocalization, smart sensors, and big data analysis, could hold the key to unlocking global food security challenge.

Jul 28th, 2022

Novel platform allows five types of programmable optothermal manipulation of micro- and nanoparticles

round-particleResearchers have developed an optothermal platform with five manipulation modes - printing, tweezing, rotating, rolling, and shooting - using a single Gaussian laser beam. Switching between the different modes is achieved by simply tuning the optical power or the distance between laser and object, and can be automated through software programming. This novel multimodal manipulation technique relies on the coordination of multiple thermal forces instead of light-matter interactions, i.e., the mechanism of traditional optical tweezers.

Jul 25th, 2022