Feature Channels: Nanotechnology

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Scientists at Johns Hopkins have created a nanoparticle that carries two different antibodies capable of simultaneously switching off cancer cells' defensive properties while switching on a robust anticancer immune response in mice. Experiments with the tiny, double-duty "immunoswitch" found it able to dramatically slow the growth of mouse melanoma and colon cancer and even eradicate tumors in test animals, the researchers report.

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Researchers at Argonne are collaborating with Honeywell UOP scientists to explore innovative energy and chemicals production.

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New findings show that features more than 100x smaller than the optical wavelength can still be sensed by light. This could pave the way for major new applications in sensing, including measuring nanometric defects in computer chips and photonic devices.

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A researcher with the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas has designed a novel computing system made solely from carbon that might one day replace the silicon transistors that power today’s electronic devices.

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Precise fluorescent imaging at the molecular level has not been possible because of non-specific fluorescence by surrounding tissues. Now researchers have resolved many of these problems by using SWIR quantum dots in live mice to image working organs, take metabolic measurements, and track microvascular blood flow in normal brain and brain tumors

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Researchers from Houston Methodist and Italian super sports car maker Automobili Lamborghini are working together on new carbon fiber materials for implantable devices used in therapeutic drug delivery and orthopedics.

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New work seeks to explain a strange phenomenon occurring in fusion reactor materials.

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Seven small businesses have been selected to collaborate with researchers at Argonne to address technical challenges as part of DOE’s Small Business Vouchers Program.

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Namiko Yamamoto, assistant professor of aerospace engineering at Penn State, was recently awarded $447,663 through the Office of Naval Research Sea-Based Aviation Airframe Structures and Materials program to study fundamental toughening mechanisms of novel ceramic composites and their use as alternative materials for high-temperature applications in the aerospace industry.

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Scientists surprised by discovery that copper embedded in carbon nano-spikes can turn carbon dioxide into ethanol.

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Researchers invent a new single-step approach to constructing electromagnetic metamaterials uses tiny self-assembled pillars in composite films.

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Researchers invent a low-tech, solution-based route to high-performance carbon nanotube thin films.

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Scientists coax simple molecules into forming complex three-dimensional structures for faster, more energy-efficient electronics.

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An international, multidisciplinary research team, including an engineering professor at the University of Arkansas, has discovered a mechanism that controls the formation and function of plate-like nanocrystals that play a critical role in bone composition.

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Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed the first printed battery that is flexible, stretchable and rechargeable. The zinc batteries could be used to power everything from wearable sensors to solar cells and other kinds of electronics. The work appears in the April 19, 2017 issue of Advanced Energy Materials.

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A Yale research team has found that by tinkering with the surface properties of drug-loaded nanoparticles, they can potentially direct these particles to specific cells in the brain.

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In a new study published last Friday in Science, researchers at Argonne used an X-ray scattering technique called Bragg coherent diffraction imaging to reconstruct in 3-D the size and shape of grain defects. These defects create imperfections in the lattice of atoms inside a grain that can give rise to interesting material properties and effects.

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University of Arkansas physicists are able to accurately describe the geometric structure of gold nanobars, enabling more precise coupling of plasmonic nanostructures with light.

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In a report published in Nano LettersArgonne researchers reveal new insights into the properties of a magnetic insulator that is a candidate for low-power device applications; their insights form early stepping-stones towards developing high-speed, low-power electronics that use electron spin rather than charge to carry information.

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Prof. Boris Rybtchinski has created membranes comprised mostly of water, that self-assemble in water. They can filter out particles based on size, and can be easily disassembled. Crafting nanomaterials that are also sustainable is a major goal of Prof. Rybtchinski’s lab.

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This is one in a ongoing series of profiles on the directors of the Department of Energy Office of Science-stewarded user facilities.These scientists lead a variety of research institutions that provide researchers with the most advanced tools of modern science including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources, as well as facilities for studying the nano world, the environment, and the atmosphere.

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A research team in China have developed a new CESL method that introduces tensile stress into both the channel and the drift region, improving overall performance by offering low drift resistance, high cut-off frequency and desirable breakdown characteristics. Their work is described in an article appearing this week in the journal AIP Advances, from AIP Publishing.

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A paper-thin, flexible device created at Michigan State University not only can generate energy from human motion, it can act as a loudspeaker and microphone as well, nanotechnology researchers report in the May 16 edition of Nature Communications.

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Electronic devices that can not only be implanted in the human body but also completely dissolve on their own – known as “bioresorbable” electronics – are envisioned by many as one of medical technology’s next frontiers. A new study by Missouri University of Science and Technology researchers suggests that a laser printing technique using nanoparticles could help unlock a more cost-effective approach to building sturdier and safer components.

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Researchers from the National University of Singapore recently uncovered novel properties of strontium niobate, which is a unique semiconductor material that displays both metallic type conduction and photocatalytic activity.

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Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a nano-sized optical fiber that’s sensitive enough to feel the forces generated by swimming bacteria and hear the beating of heart muscle cells. The fiber detects forces down to 160 femtonewtons and sound levels down to -30 decibels.

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Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are small devices that convert movement into electricity, and might just be what bring us into an era of energy-harvesting clothes and implants. But could TENGs, even theoretically, give us wearable electronics powered solely by the wearer’s day-to-day body motion? The short answer is yes. New research published this week in APL Materials demonstrates the ability of mechanical energy produced by typical body motions to power a watch or smartphone.

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Scientists at Ames Laboratory have discovered a method for making smaller, more efficient intermetallic nanoparticles for fuel cell applications, and which also use less of the expensive precious metal platinum.

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More than 400 researchers from numerous disciplines will convene at Argonne today for the annual Users’ Meeting for the Advanced Photon Source and Center for Nanoscale Materials.

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Chemists from Italy and Canada specializing in nanotechnology create a molecular slingshot that could shoot drugs at precise locations in the human body once triggered by specific disease markers.

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Argonne researchers have developed a new approach for studying piezoelectric materials using ultrafast 3-D X-ray imaging and computer modeling. Their integrated approach, reported in Nano Letters, can help us better understand material behavior and engineer more powerful and energy-efficient technologies.

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A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, have discovered a new nano-scale thin film material with the highest-ever conductivity in its class. The new material could lead to smaller, faster, and more powerful electronics, as well as more efficient solar cells.

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Engineers at the University of Maryland have developed a new use for wood: to filter water. Liangbing Hu of the Energy Research Center and his colleagues added nanoparticles to wood, then used it to filter toxic dyes from water.

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It’s the classic plot of a buddy movie. Two struggling bodies team up to drive the plot and do good together. That same idea, when it comes to metals, could help scientists solve a big problem: the amount of energy consumed by making chemicals.

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Noted physicist Andreas Roelofs is the new director of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), a Department of Energy-funded nanoscience research facility with a core center at Sandia National Laboratories and a gateway research site at Los Alamos National Laboratory. CINT provides users from around the world with access to state-of-the-art expertise and instrumentation in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment with a focus on nanoscience integration.

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A University at Buffalo-led team has discovered a new way to control energy levels between electronic valleys in 2-D semiconductors. The breakthrough could help extend Moore’s Law, allowing industry to build computer chips that are faster, more powerful and cheaper that those available today.

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A Mayo Clinic research team has developed a new type of cancer-fighting nanoparticle aimed at shrinking breast cancer tumors, while also preventing recurrence of the disease.

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UPTON, NY—Some of the most promising and puzzling phenomena in physics play out on the nanoscale, where a billionth-of-a-meter shift can make or break perfect electrical conductivity.

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Using a specialized electron microscope outfitted with a pattern generator, scientists turned an imaging instrument into a lithography tool that could be used to create and study materials with new properties.

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Penn State researchers report two discoveries that will provide a simple and effective way to “stencil” high quality 2D materials in precise locations and overcome a barrier to their use in next-generation electronics.

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For the first time, researchers have measured the force that draws tiny crystals together and visualized how they swivel and align. Called van der Waals forces, the attraction provides insights into how crystals self-assemble, an activity that occurs in a wide range of cases in nature, from rocks to shells to bones.

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is collaborating with three small businesses to address technical challenges concerning hydrogen for fuel cell cars, bio-coal and nanomaterial manufacturing.

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In a new study, researchers show that engineered nanosponges can reduce the severity of infections caused by the bacteria responsible for strep throat and flesh-eating disease.

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Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed a first-of-its-kind nanoparticle vaccine immunotherapy that targets several different cancer types.

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In a newly published Science paper, Argonne and Temple University researchers reveal new knowledge about the behavior of metal nanoparticles when they undergo oxidation, by integrating X-ray imaging and computer modeling and simulation. This knowledge adds to our understanding of fundamental processes like oxidation and corrosion.

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Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have used waste glass bottles and a low-cost chemical process to create nanosilicon anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will extend the range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and provide more power with fewer charges to personal electronics like cell phones and laptops.

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Through highly controlled synthesis, scientists controlled competing atomic forces to let spiral electronic structures form. These polar vortices can serve as a precursor to new phenomena in materials. The materials could be vital for ultra-low energy electronic devices.

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Scientists determine the precise location and identity of all 23,000 atoms in a nanoparticle.

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NYU’s Shahrjerdi has been using facilities at Brookhaven Lab’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) to fabricate and characterize nano-bioelectronic devices that combine the unique properties of emerging nanomaterials with advanced silicon-based electronics.