Showing Spotlights 17 - 24 of 2343 in category All (newest first):
The electronic and optical properties of 2D materials can be controlled by mechanical deformations of their crystal structure. This route to tailor the properties of materials is called strain engineering and it is a rapidly evolving field of research in nanomaterials. Straintronics, however, is somewhat hampered by technical issues related to the fast and reliable control of the applied strain. Researchers have now developed a versatile and straightforward platform to control the biaxial strain in atomically thin layers.
Jun 17th, 2020
Many biological systems transmit signals via ions or molecules, whereas man-made sensors are mainly based on electron transport systems, i.e. electronics. The concept of ionic sensory systems is inspired by ion transport in biological systems, which is the movement of ions across a membrane, passively through ion channels or actively through ion pumps. Although sensory systems based on accurate ion transport are still in their early development, recent progress in nano-ionic sensory systems underlines their significant potential.
Jun 16th, 2020
Bismuth antimonide (BiSb) is an important material in nanoelectronics as a topological insulator and as a thermoelectric material. However, some of its thermal properties are still mostly unknown at the nanoscale. This is an issue because in order for BiSb to exhibit its thermoelectric properties it has to be an alloy. But at the nanoscale, it is difficult to mix Bi and Sb. New findings provide the phase diagram of bismuth antimonide at nanoscale sizes for different types of morphologies like sphere, rod, wire, and film, thereby filling the knowledge gap about the thermal properties of BiSb at the nanoscale.
Jun 5th, 2020
More than 25 years since the discovery of superconductivity in strontium ruthanate (SRO), understanding the properties of this material remains as challenging as ever. Researchers now demonstrated that a SRO sample can allow the two energetically degenerate condensates of Cooper-pairs with opposite momentum to segregate in domains, with a domain wall in between where chirality changes. To use the analogy to Moses parting the sea, here the Red Sea would spontaneously part into 'magenta' and 'yellow' seas on either side.
May 27th, 2020
New research demonstrates the integration of synthetic biology with electronic circuitry through engineered population dynamics that regulate the accumulation of charged metabolites. The resulting sensor devices can detect changes in bacterial population in response to the presence of chemicals, light or pH. Connecting bacterial gene expression to electrodes is an appealing approach to interface genetic circuits with microelectronics for multiple applications. In this work, researchers engineered bacterial circuits capable of controlling the conductivity of the media via cell growth and death. Therefore, the electronic output is controlled by a killing gene.
May 26th, 2020
Miniaturized needle-like carriers in high aspect ratio structures are a novel class of implantable electronic devices. They are used to deliver tiny sensors and stimulation tools inside the body via minimally invasive injection or insertion into a specific area of an organ. A recent review summarizes the latest developments in materials, designs, and manufacturing techniques in the field of injectable biomedical devices, highlighting unique applications and demonstrations of viable clinical tools that were applied in various internal organs.
May 19th, 2020
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is is the most common type of primary liver cancer and one of the most aggressive and hyper-vascularized forms of cancer. Many current chemotherapeutics fail to achieve the effective therapeutic index in the solid tumours due to poor drug penetration, poor bioavailability, non-specificity and drug resistance - a challenging aspect in this field. In search of new modalities, researchers have developed multifunctional polymeric nanoparticles against HCC. These biocompatible multifunctional polymeric nanoparticles hold trimodal affinity towards targeting microtubules, tyrosine kinases, and high-sensitivity imaging system quantum dots.
May 14th, 2020
Breath is one of the main sources of human health parameters that can be used for predicting the state of internal organs. Exhaled breath composition is very complex and the existence of disease marker molecules can be as low as one part per million. That means that using breath for health monitoring purposes requires highly sensitive tools with a recognition ability down to single molecules. Researchers developed a method for fast, on-site and still accurate breath analysis that does not need special preparation of breath samples. The method is based on an electronic nose platform that uses a set of single-walled carbon nanotube sensors deposited on flexible substrates and modified by different semiconducting organic molecules.
May 13th, 2020
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