Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Research shows benefits of nanocrystalline silicon carbide for sensors in harsh environments

The use of silicon carbide as a semiconductor for mechanical and electrical sensor devices is showing promise for improved operations and safety in harsh working environments.

Feb 9th, 2015

Scientists devise breakthrough technique for mapping temperature in tiny devices

Approach could lead to better designs for computer chips.

Feb 9th, 2015

Breakthrough may lead to industrial production of graphene devices

With properties that promise faster computers, better sensors and much more, graphene has been dubbed the 'miracle material'. But progress in producing it on an industrial scale without compromising its properties has proved elusive. University of Groningen scientists may now have made a breakthrough.

Feb 9th, 2015

'Virtual virus' unfolds the flu on a CPU

Scientists simulate the complete outer envelope of a flu particle for the first time.

Feb 8th, 2015

Boosting oil extraction with nanotechnology

Researchers studied the effect of using nanoparticles on increasing oil extraction from reservoirs.

Feb 8th, 2015

Nanovectors combine cancer imaging and therapy

Researchers have designed and developed hybrid gold-silica nanoparticles, which are turning out to be genuine therapeutic 'Swiss Army knives'. Tested in mice and on cultured human cells, they make it possible to combine two forms of tumor treatment and three imaging techniques.

Feb 6th, 2015

Why 'baking powder' increases efficiency of plastic solar cells

The efficiency of plastic solar cells can be doubled or tripled if an extra solvent is added during the production process, comparable with the role of baking powder in dough mixture. Exactly how this works has been unclear for the last ten years.

Feb 6th, 2015

A nanoscale solution to the big problem of overheating in microelectronic devices

Researchers discover a new path to explore the terrain of nanoscale thermodynamics.

Feb 6th, 2015

Diamond microscope

New technique could use tiny diamond defects to reveal unprecedented detail of molecular structures.

Feb 6th, 2015

Physics breakthrough stalled by magnetic disorder

Exotic new materials called 'ferromagnetic topological insulators' were supposed to be the next big thing, offering potential breakthroughs in electronics and new insights into the physics of solids - but it hasn't happened. Researchers have found out that tinkering with the materials to make the insulators work has actually introduced a disorder that spoils the desired effects.

Feb 6th, 2015

Precision growth of light-emitting nanowires

A novel approach to growing nanowires promises a new means of control over their light-emitting and electronic properties. Scientists demonstrated a new growth technique that uses specially engineered catalysts.

Feb 6th, 2015

Nano-hydrogels that attack cancer cells

Hydrogels are materials that are commonly used in everyday objects such as contact lenses or diapers, in order to control humidity. However, chemical engineers developed a new technology based on thermosensitive nanoparticles (nano-hydrogels) to use these materials in the field of biomedicine, as an alternative to achieve controlled release of anticancer drugs.

Feb 5th, 2015

Turing also present at the nanoscale

In the world of single atoms and molecules governed by chaotic fluctuations, is the spontaneous formation of Turing patterns possible - the same ones that are responsible for the irregular yet periodic shapes of the stripes on zebras' bodies? A team of physicists has for the first time demonstrated that such a process can not only occur, but can also be used for potentially very interesting applications.