Nanotechnology offers many benefits that can be leveraged to increase the potency of vaccine formulations. For anticancer vaccination, antigenic material can be collected directly from a patient's resected tumor, formulated into a biomimetic nanoparticle, and then administered back into the patient to promote tumor-specific immunity. For antibacterial vaccination, strain-specific virulence factors or membrane can be immobilized...
Apr 03, 2020
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One of the key issues that is holding back widespread applications of noble metal aerogels is a lack of understanding of the underlying structure-performance correlations. Presumably, this is caused by an insufficient understanding of the sol-gel process that limits manipulating versatile parameters, such as ligament sizes, compositions, and spatial element distributions. Recently published findings not only take a big step...
Mar 30, 2020
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Noble metal aerogels are widely investigated for electrocatalysis applications due to their large specific surface areas and the high catalytic activity of noble metals. However, their fabrication methods are cumbersome. Now though, researchers have developed a freeze-thaw method capable of preparing various hierarchically structured noble metal gels within only one day directly from dilute solutions without extra additives....
Mar 26, 2020
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Biofabrication is a revolutionizing toolkit for regenerative medicine that allows cells and other biomaterials to be precisely combined and patterned into three-dimensional (3D) constructs through automated, cell-friendly fabrication methods. With rapid advanced in 3D-printing hardware on one hand and bioink materials on the other, biofabrication techniques have gained significant momentum and provide a powerful approach to...
Mar 25, 2020
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Researchers fabricated an innovative type of time-temperature sensor that can be used to detect and record temperature changes throughout the entire cold-supply chain. This nanofiber-based sensor only requires a single self-healing material with one phase, and functions as a result of its own intrinsic characteristics. Moreover, it is highly flexible, not at risk of chemical leakage, and cost-effective. Compared to electronic...
Mar 23, 2020
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Researchers have identified the potential of using nanoscale carbon dots on bacteria for augmented bioelectricity production. They used this to demonstrate a novel method for significantly increasing the bacterial bioelectricity generation and applied it to set up microbial fuel cells. The results show that carbon dots' highly conductive carbon core not only improved overall systemic electrical conductivity but could also...
Mar 19, 2020
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A tattoo-like sensor system that sticks to the skin and can indirectly tell the body's hydration level could help prevent heat strokes. The research team behind this invention demonstrated a completely new, versatile strategy to integrate pH sensing elements with high quality, physically transferable PDMS freestanding nanosheets. These sensor stickers can adhere to the skin without any glue. The simple structure of this sensor...
Mar 19, 2020
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Researchers have developed a method to produce a wood-derived, fully bio-based, and environmentally friendly flexible electronic circuit. They tailored the wood nanostructure to create a wood film with high transparency, flexibility, and strong mechanical properties. This material compares favorably with previously published two-dimensional cellulose-based materials developed for electronics or structural applications. This...
Mar 12, 2020
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Researchers report the direct writing of laser-induced graphene on a Kevlar textile. The transformation of Kevlar into graphene can be attributed to the photothermal effect induced by CO2 laser irradiation. Specifically, this resulted in high localized temperature, leading to the ablation and depolymerization of the Kevlar fiber. The remaining carbon atoms are recombined and 'recrystallized' into graphene. Based on this technique,...
Mar 11, 2020
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