Nanotechnology and Emerging Technologies - Nanoscience News from Nanowerk

A nanobiotechnology tool for site-specific delivery in the gastrointestinal tract (w/video)

Researchers have developed an enteric micromotor consisting of a magnesium-based motor body with an enteric polymer coating. These motors, aimed controlling and enhancing site-specific delivery in the gastrointestinal tract, consist of water-powered magnesium-based tubular micromotors coated with an enteric polymer layer. The microscale robot can deliver payload to particular location via dissolution of their enteric polymeric...

Posted: Sep 27, 2016

Plasmon-enhanced thermophoresis for the reversible assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles

The optical manipulation of plasmonic nanoparticles has advantages for applications such as nanofabrication, drug delivery and biosensing. To that end, researchers have been developing techniques for the reversible assembly of plasmonic nanoparticles that can be used to modulate their structural, electrical and optical properties. The latest such technique is a low-power assembly that is enabled by thermophoretic migration...

Posted: Sep 21, 2016

A novel approach for nanotoxicity evaluation in human cells using SERS

Currently available toxicity screening methods are not fully compatible with nanotoxicity studies. Due to the unique physicochemical characteristics of nanomaterials, conventional cytotoxicity assays have been shown to create complications in nanotoxicity evaluation. In a new study, researchers used surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to evaluate the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials. They show that SERS can be used as an...

Posted: Sep 20, 2016

Bioinspired mechanochromic devices (w/videos)

Jellyfish can change from a transparent state to an opaque state when disturbed. Tactile stimulation can instantaneously evoke the contraction of radial muscles in the margin of a nectosac, resulting in a crumpled morphology with inward folds. Due to the wrinkles/folding that form, light will be scattered instead of travelling directly through the skin, resulting in a more opaque appearance. Inspired by marine life, a variety...

Posted: Sep 02, 2016

Zwitterionic nanoparticle coatings to bypass the protein corona problem

Very recently, the use of zwitterionic coatings has emerged as an alternative strategy to provide corona free nanoparticles. The layers of proteins adsorbed to the surface of a nanomaterial at any given time is known as the protein corona. This protein layer can hinder interactions between the targeting ligands at the surface of nanoparticles and their binding partners on the cells' surface. Researchers found that by using...

Posted: Sep 01, 2016

Nanotechnology: The future is tiny

Written by Nanowerk's Michael Berger, this just published book is a collection of essays about researchers involved in all facets of nanotechnologies. Nanoscience and nanotechnology research are truly multidisciplinary and international efforts, covering a wide range of scientific disciplines such as medicine, materials sciences, chemistry, biology and biotechnology, physics and electronics. Each of the book's chapters is...

Posted: Aug 31, 2016

Defect-engineered graphene improves supercapacitors

Traditionally, the size of electrode materials in supercapacitors is reduced to nanometers to enable high surface area and more room for storing more amounts of energy. But the microscopic electron distribution in nanocarbons limits the total amount of stored energy through a property called 'quantum capacitance'. Although a lot of charge could be stored in the pores on nanocarbons due to their high surface area, their inherently...

Posted: Aug 25, 2016

Controlling light and heat on the nanoscale with hybrid optical-thermal antennas

Localization of photons to nanoscale volumes with the aid of plasmonic nanoantennas opened new horizons in bio(chemical) sensing and nanoscale imaging. However, plasmon resonances are short-lived, and the photon energy quickly dissipates as heat, creating temperature gradients on plasmonic chips. In new work, researchers have proposed design rules to engineer hybrid optical-thermal antennas that offer multiple functionalities...

Posted: Aug 24, 2016