Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Engineers reveal fabrication process for revolutionary transparent sensors

In a new paper, researchers describe in great detail how to fabricate and use transparent graphene neural electrode arrays in applications in electrophysiology, fluorescent microscopy, optical coherence tomography, and optogenetics.

Oct 13th, 2016

Silver nanoparticle concentration too low to be harmful in water supply, paper finds

Silver nanoparticles have a wide array of uses, one of which is to treat drinking water for harmful bacteria and viruses. But do silver nanoparticles also kill off potentially beneficial bacteria or cause other harmful effects to water-based ecosystems? A new paper says that is not the case.

Oct 13th, 2016

Probing how water flows on superhydrophobic surfaces by atomic force microscopy

Scientists have managed to characterize theoretically the behavior of water in close vicinity to a superhydrophobic surface. Not only that, but also they have verified the analytical theory by experiment with an unprecedented precision.

Oct 13th, 2016

Researchers develop DNA-based single-electron electronic devices

Researchers have demonstrated a method to fabricate electronic devices by using DNA. The DNA itself has no part in the electrical function, but acts as a scaffold for forming a linear, pearl-necklace-like nanostructure consisting of three gold nanoparticles.

Oct 13th, 2016

Flexible biosensor detects glucose from small amounts of sweat

Bioengineers demonstrated the capabilities of a biosensor they designed to reliably detect and quantify glucose in human sweat.

Oct 13th, 2016

2D-nanocellulose: piezoelectric driven by a hydrogen bonds pattern

New research provides the basis for new electromechanical designs using 2D-nanocellulose. In a longer-term perspective, the reinterpretation of electrical features for hydrogen bonds here introduced could pave the way in the understanding of life-essential molecules and events.

Oct 13th, 2016

Researchers create 3-D full-color plasmonic holographic images with nanomaterials

Researchers are creating a new approach to reconstruct 3-D full-color holographic images by using just one layer of nanoscale metallic film. This work has a huge potential to change our daily lives by equipping our cell phones with 3-D floating displays and printing 3-D security marking onto credit cards.

Oct 13th, 2016

Electron-phonon interactions affect heat dissipation in computer chips

Study shows particle collisions may explain overheated circuits, improve thermoelectric devices.

Oct 13th, 2016

Nano-spike catalysts convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol

In a new twist to waste-to-fuel technology, scientists have developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol.

Oct 13th, 2016

T-rays will 'speed up' computer memory by a factor of 1,000

Researchers have found a way to significantly improve computer performance. They propose the use of the so-called T-waves, or terahertz radiation as a means of resetting computer memory cells. This process is several thousand times faster than the magnetic-field-induced switching.

Oct 12th, 2016

Efficiency plus versatility in engineering polymer brush patterns

A new method of engineering polymer brush patterns promises to cut down processing time while adding versatility in design.

Oct 12th, 2016

New polymer warns of dangerous kidney disease

Electropolymerizable functional and cross-linking monomers were used to prepare conducting molecularly imprinted polymer film with improved surface area with the help of a sacrificial metal-organic framework (MOF).

Oct 12th, 2016

Static electricity can control nanoballoon actuator

Molecular sized machines could in the future be used to control important mechanisms in the body. In a recent study, researchers show how a nanoballoon comprising a single carbon molecule ten thousand times thinner than a human hair can be controlled electrostatically to switch between an inflated and a collapsed state.