Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Manipulation of liquid crystals could help control drug-delivery process

Liquid crystals are strange substances, both fish and fowl. They can flow like a liquid, but have the orderly molecular structure of a crystalline solid. And that internal structure can be changed by small cues from outside.

Sep 13th, 2016

On-surface chemistry leads to novel products

On-surface chemical Reactions can lead to novel chemical compounds not yet synthesized by solution chemistry.

Sep 13th, 2016

Nanotechnology engineers develop the 'potalyzer', a roadside saliva test for marijuana intoxication

As the breathalyzer does for alcohol, this experimental 'potalyzer' could provide a practical field test for determining whether a driver might be impaired from smoking marijuana.

Sep 13th, 2016

Researchers find way of developing composites that self-heal at very low temperatures

Scientists have developed a method of allowing materials, commonly used in aircraft and satellites, to self-heal cracks at temperatures well below freezing.

Sep 13th, 2016

ERC Starting Grant to revolutionize the efficiency, cost and stability of thin-film solar cells

Researchers receive two million euros to apply techniques from silicon solar cell processing to revolutionize the design of thin-film solar cells, improving their efficiency, cost and stability.

Sep 13th, 2016

Metal in chains

The electronic energy states allowed by quantum mechanics determine whether a solid is an insulator or whether it conducts electric current as a metal. Researchers have now theoretically predicted a novel material whose energy states exhibit a hitherto unknown peculiarity.

Sep 13th, 2016

First accurate simulation of a virus invading a cell

For the first time, scientists know what happens to a virus' shape when it invades a host cell. Understanding how the virus shape specifically changes could lead to more effective anti-viral therapies.

Sep 13th, 2016

Carbon-coated iron catalyst structure could lead to more-active fuel cells

Fuel cells have long held promise as power sources, but low efficiency has created obstacles to realizing that promise. Researchers have identified the active form of an iron-containing catalyst for the trickiest part of the process: reducing oxygen gas, which has two oxygen atoms, so that it can break apart and combine with ionized hydrogen to make water.

Sep 12th, 2016

First multicellular organism inspires the design of better cancer drugs

The first multicellular organism, Volvox, evolved from self-assembly of individual cells. Inspired by this organism, researchers have developed a novel approach for treating cancer.

Sep 12th, 2016

Seeing polarons at a metal oxide surface

Polarons in metal oxides play a key role in processes such as catalysis, high temperature superconductivity, and dielectric breakdown in nanoscale electronics. For this reason, numerous studies have been conducted on technologically relevant oxide materials in which charge carriers are believed to be self-trapped, forming polarons.

Sep 12th, 2016

Draft 2016 National Nanotechnology Initiative strategic plan available for public comment

The draft 2016 National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Strategic Plan is now available online for public comment prior to publication.

Sep 12th, 2016

Metal to insulator transition understood

Physicists have for the first time succeeded in directly visualising on small scales how a material abruptly changes its state from conducting to insulating at low temperatures.

Sep 12th, 2016

Stretchable nano-devices towards smart contact lenses

A stretchable nano-scale device has been created to manipulate light. Using the technology, high-tech lenses could one day filter harmful optical radiation without interfering with vision - or in a more advanced version, transmit data and gather live vital information or even show information like a head-up display.