Feature Channels: Nanotechnology

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Researchers from the National University of Singapore have found that cancer nanomedicine, which are designed to kill cancer cells, may accelerate metastasis. Using breast cancer as a model, they discovered that common nanoparticles made from gold, titanium dioxide, silver and silicon dioxide – found in processed food, consumer products, and also used in nanomedicines – widen the gap between blood vessel cells, making it easier for other cells, such as cancer cells, to go in and out of “leaky” blood vessels.

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Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory described in the journal Science the first use of an electron microscope to directly identify isotopes in amino acids at the nanoscale without damaging the samples, which could open a new pathway for deeper, more comprehensive studies of the basic building blocks of life.

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With a growing global population will come increased energy consumption, and sustainable forms of energy sources such as solar fuels and solar electricity will be in even greater demand. And as these forms of power proliferate, the focus will shift to improved efficiency.

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For decades, women have shouldered most of the burden of contraception. However, long-term use of female birth control pills could increase the risk for side effects such as blood clots or breast cancer. Now, inspired by colorful layered cocktails, researchers have developed a medium-term, reversible male contraceptive. They report their results in the journal ACS Nano.

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A team at GW Cancer Center is investigating Prussian blue nanoparticles used in combination with checkpoint inhibitors for cancer treatment

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“Be prepared.” This famous mantra isn’t just for the Boy Scouts of America. The need to build durable infrastructure on other planets is coming, and we must be ready. To prepare, Penn State researchers have teamed up with NASA to explore how cement solidifies in microgravity environments.

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Algae that turn carbon dioxide into fuel feedstock are enhanced by surrounding bacteria.

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Static electricity is one of the most common, yet poorly understand, forms of power generation. A new study suggests the cause of this hair-raising phenomenon is tiny structural changes that occur at the surface of materials when they come into contact with each other. The finding could someday help technology companies create more sustainable and longer-lasting power sources for small electronic devices.

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Engineers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have created the first 3D-printed fluid circuit element so tiny that 10 could rest on the width of a human hair. The diode ensures fluids move in only a single direction--a critical feature for products like implantable devices that release therapies directly into the body.

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etmarie Matos Vazquez came to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory seeking a more in-depth understanding of science beyond what her university could provide. Almost as soon as she stumbled upon a DOE website about internship opportunities, she knew that DOE’s laboratory system, and Argonne specifically, had exactly what she needed.Currently, she is workingon a projectthat offers the potential toimprove the aspect resolution of a wide array of microscopes.Vazquez’s internship was sponsored by the Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program, within the DOE’s Office of Environmental Management.

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Molecules are usually formed in reaction vessels or laboratory flasks. An Empa research team has now succeeded in producing molecules between two microscopically small, movable gold tips – in a sense as a "hand-knitted" unique specimen. The properties of the molecules can be monitored in real time while they are being produced. The research results have just been published in Nature Communications.

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Bioengineers have developed implantable and wearable nanogenerators that create electrical pulses when compressed by body motions. The pulses controlled weight gain and enhanced healing of skin wounds in rat models.

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A research group at Boise State University has released the open-source design of a chemical vapor deposition system for two-dimensional (2D) materials growth, an advance which could lower the barrier of entry into 2D materials research and expedite 2D materials discovery and translation from the benchtop to the market.

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A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new microfluidics-assisted technique for developing high-performance macroscopic graphene fibers. Graphene fiber, a recently discovered member of the carbon fiber family, has potential applications in diverse technological areas, from energy storage, electronics and optics, electro-magnetics, thermal conductor and thermal management, to structural applications.

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In new research that could help inform development of new materials, Cornell chemists have found that the empty space (“pores”) present in two-dimensional molecular building blocks fundamentally changes the strength of these van der Waals forces, and can potentially alter the assembly of sophisticated nanostructures.

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Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Dallas and one of the world’s leading experts in data security and data mining, has been elected a fellow of two highly prestigious international technology organizations.

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Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a dual-purpose material out of a self-assembling MOF (metal-organic framework)-nanocrystal hybrid that could one day be used to store carbon dioxide gas molecules for the manufacture of new chemicals and fuels.

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John “Chip” Tilton, MD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine will receive $300,000 from the Dr. Ralph and Marian Falk Medical Research Trust to develop a virus-based “nanoPOD” (nanoscale PrOtein Delivery) platform to help treat rare genetic diseases. Tilton’s project will address a major challenge in developing nanoscale therapeutics: finding ways to deliver them to the right location inside the body.

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Feature summarizes and links to discoveries and breakthroughs at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in 2018, plus a profile of the knight who leads the laboratory.

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ORNL story tips: Automated pellet press speeds production of Pu-238 to fuel NASA’s deep space exploration; new memory cell circuit design may boost storage with less energy in exascale, quantum computing; free app eases installation, repair of HVAC systems that use low GWP refrigerants; and more.

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Scientists have their first direct, detailed look at how a single atom catalyzes a chemical reaction. The reaction is the same one that strips poisonous carbon monoxide out of car exhaust, and individual atoms of iridium did the job up to 25 times more efficiently than the iridium nanoparticles containing 50 to 100 atoms that are used today.

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Every year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory compiles a list of the biggest advances made by the Lab’s staff scientists, engineers, and visiting researchers. From uncovering mysteries of the universe to building better batteries, here, in no particular order, are our picks for the top 10 discoveries of 2018.

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High-energy X-ray beams and a clever experimental setup allowed researchers to watch a high-pressure, high-temperature chemical reaction to determine for the first time what controls formation of two different nanoscale crystalline structures in the metal cobalt.

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Scientists made hollow nanosized boxes with corner holes, demonstrating how these “nanowrappers” can carry and release DNA-coated nanoparticles.

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Is it possible to predict what type of material an unidentified element will be in bulk quantities solely based on the properties it exhibits over a limited range of the subnano to nano size régime? It is, according to Argonne scientists.

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A crucial step has been achieved in understanding quantum optical behavior of semiconductor nanomaterials.

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Taking part in the worldwide search for fuel cell cathode materials, researchers at the University of Akron developed a new method of synthesizing catalysts from a combination of metals—platinum and nickel—that form octahedral (eight-sided) shaped nanoparticles. While scientists have identified this catalyst as one of the most efficient replacements for pure platinum, they have not fully understood why it grows in an octahedral shape. To better understand the growth process, the researchers at the University of Akron collaborated with multiple institutions, including Brookhaven and its NSLS-II.

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Scientists from Brookhaven's nanocenter describe how a technique they developed can be used to define single-digit nanometer patterns.

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In a new study, Argonne scientists have created small regions of magnetic defects. When electromagnetic plane waves interact with these defects, they are converted into helical waves, which encode more information for further materials studies.

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At a workshop hosted by Brookhaven, scientists and IT specialists discussed best practices for managing data from light source facilities.

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Skin has a remarkable ability to heal itself. But in some cases, wounds heal very slowly or not at all, putting a person at risk for chronic pain, infection and scarring. Now, researchers have developed a self-powered bandage that generates an electric field over an injury, dramatically reducing the healing time for skin wounds in rats. They report their results in ACS Nano.

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What is real is not always as it appears. University of Central Florida researchers have found a way to hide information on materials and only make it visible to a person using the right tech.

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In new research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and published in Science, scientists have identified a new catalyst that uses only about a quarter as much platinum as current technology by maximizing the effectiveness of the available platinum.

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Within SUSU’s strategic direction entitled “Fundamental science in the sphere of providing Engineering 3.0”, an interdisciplinary project team of the university’s scientists in a record-breaking period of time (6 weeks) created Kinetic Calculation software product, which allows studying kinetics of chemical processes.

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Professor Dean Ho, Director of the Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology at the National University of Singapore, has been elected as a Fellow of the United States National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional accolade for academic inventors.

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A long-standing problem in optics holds that an improved resolution in imaging is offset by a loss in the depth of focus. Now, scientists are joining computation with X-ray imaging as they develop a new and exciting technique to bypass this limitation.

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The space surrounding us is literally pierced with electromagnetic radiation and magnetic fields of natural and artificial origin. Even a short electromagnetic pulse is enough to knock equipment of any level of complexity out of operation. Candidate of Sciences (Physics and Mathematics) Aleksey Trukhanov, who is senior research fellow at the SUSU Nanotechnologies Research and Education Center, is studying electrolytic films to create electromagnetic and magnetic shields capable of neutralizing the radiation.

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Carson Bruns is working to put body art to use, designing high-tech inks that may one day signal your temperature or changes in blood chemistry.

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Strong and flexible aerogels are used in a wide variety of products, from insulation for offshore oil pipelines to parts for space exploration missions. Now, aerogels are undergoing a paradigm shift due to a breakthrough in the understanding of their mechanical properties at the nanoscale level.

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ORNL solved methane mystery through tree trunk, soil study; neutrons unlock secrets of corn nanoparticles; lithium-ion battery study could inform safer designs; corrosion tests could advance molten salt reactor designs; thought leaders discuss sea of energy change at maritime risk meeting.

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Physicists synthesized 2-D atom-thin sheets of boron with large crystal domains, which are needed to make next-gen electronics.

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Alternative energy sources are a way to rational resource saving. Development of nanotechnology is a serious impulse for development of alternative energy sources. For several years, scientists of South Ural State University have been working on creation of solar batteries of a new type, specificity of which is organic light-sensitive material.

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With $1.2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, the Penn State Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization, along with Norfolk State University and Tidewater Community College, will form the Southeastern Coalition for Engagement and Exchange in Nanotechnology Education to broaden participation of underrepresented minority students in STEM.

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New method takes a snapshot every millisecond of groups of light-scattering particles, showing what happens during industrially relevant reactions.

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A new, low-cost wound dressing developed by University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers could dramatically speed up healing in a surprising way. The method leverages energy generated from a patient’s own body motions to apply gentle electrical pulses at the site of an injury.

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Scientists at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)--a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory--have used ultrabright x-rays to image single bacteria with higher spatial resolution than ever before. Their work, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrates an x-ray imaging technique, called x-ray fluorescence microscopy (XRF), as an effective approach to produce 3-D images of small biological samples.

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Argonne ‘s Advanced Synthesis in Continuous Flow Reactor program applies the science of chemical reactions together with powerful analysis and characterization tools to understand processes at the atomic level to advance manufacturing of fine chemicals and nanosized materials.

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Research at West Virginia University will focus on turning carbon dioxide in power plant flue gas into commercial-quality sodium bicarbonate—baking soda—aiming to use product sales to lower the cost of carbon capture technology.

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UPTON, NY—Scientists from the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory—have dramatically improved the response of graphene to light through self-assembling wire-like nanostructures that conduct electricity.

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A new study by researchers from the National University of Singapore has uncovered a major problem – a lack of graphene production standards has led to many cases of poor quality products from suppliers. Such practices can impede the progress of research that depend fundamentally on the use of high-quality graphene.