https://phys.org/nanotech-news/ en-us Nanotechnology. The latest news on nanoscience, nanoelectronics, science and technology. Updated Daily. A rash of storms in Texas in recent years—from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to the deep freeze in 2021—has put big chunks of the population in danger and left millions without electricity or water for long periods. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-water-purifying-cup-drinkable-creeks-streams.html Nanomaterials Wed, 02 Aug 2023 14:56:57 EDT news610207011 Research in the International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials has demonstrated how microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) can be used to soak up the drug amitriptyline in cases of overdose. Amitriptyline is a commonly prescribed tricyclic antidepressant, used to manage depression, chronic pain, and mood disorders. It is, as with many prescription medicines, also a drug of abuse as well as representing a potential lethal risk to users through overdose. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-microcrystalline-cellulose-amitriptyline-overdose.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:33:12 EDT news610191189 Newly developed atomic engineering techniques have opened exciting opportunities for enabling ferroelectric behavior in high-k dielectrics, materials that have a high dielectric constant (i.e., kappa or k) compared to silicon. This could in turn inform the development of more advanced CMOS-based technology with a broader range of functions or properties. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nanoelectromechanical-resonators-based-hafniazirconiaalumina-superlattices.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:30:01 EDT news610127970 Researchers at the University of Basel and Lund University have generated superconducting pair states of electrons on several segments of a nanowire, separated by grown barriers. Depending on the height of the barriers, these pair states can be coupled and fused. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-andreev-chemistry-nanowire-generate-superconducting.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:34:18 EDT news610112055 A team of scientists led by the University of Oxford have achieved a significant breakthrough in detecting modifications on protein structures. The method, published in Nature Nanotechnology, employs innovative nanopore technology to identify structural variations at the single-molecule level, even deep within long protein chains. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nanopore-technology-breakthrough-protein-variant.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Tue, 01 Aug 2023 11:48:04 EDT news610109281 The potential of an ultrafast form of transmission electron microscopy to measure sound waves in nanostructures has been demonstrated by three RIKEN physicists. This could help realize a high-resolution imaging method that uses ultrahigh-frequency sound waves to image structures that are nanometers in size. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-image-nanostructures.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 01 Aug 2023 11:38:03 EDT news610108682 To develop advanced materials, a deep understanding of their underlying microstructure and chemistry is necessary. Knowing how defects influence the interplay between microstructure and chemical composition is crucial, as they are the entry gate for material's failure due to corrosion or crack initiation. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-elements-grain-boundary-revealing-material.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 01 Aug 2023 11:31:03 EDT news610108261 Squeezing light beyond the diffraction limit and controlling the optical processes caused by nano-confined light are central issues of nanophotonics. In particular, localized and enhanced light at the plasmonic nanogaps in scanning probe microscopes provides us with a unique platform for obtaining site-specific optical information at the molecular/atomic scale. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-broadband-tip-enhanced-nonlinear-optical-response.html Nanophysics Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:25:37 EDT news610028735 Junctions between the two different materials, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and perovskite (CsPbBr3) quantum dots (QDs)—a mechanically stable and easily customized photovoltaic material that creates an electrical current from sunlight when paired with another material, such as SWCNTs—form semiconductor heterojunctions that work exceptionally well as a photodetector. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-photodetector-heterojunctions-varies-carbon-nanotube.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:53:04 EDT news610023182 The low-cost, efficient production of hydrogen is an important step toward developing alternative, clean energy sources. Electrochemical water splitting, which splits water into its hydrogen and oxygen elements using an electrocatalyst, is a viable option for producing hydrogen. Conventionally, catalysts have been based on costly elements such as platinum, which makes it difficult to apply this technology on a widespread, commercial scale. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nanoneedles-electrocatalyst-hydrogen-production.html Nanomaterials Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:49:03 EDT news610022941 Researchers at Tel Aviv University have destroyed 90% of multiple myeloma blood cancer cells under laboratory conditions, and 60% in human tissues taken from patients at Rabin Medical Center (Belinson Hospital), using an RNA-based drug delivered to the cells by targeted lipid nanoparticles. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-drug-delivery-rna-therapy-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:00:48 EDT news610020045 Using conventional testing techniques, it can be challenging—sometimes impossible—to detect harmful contaminants such as nano-plastics, air pollutants and microbes in living organisms and natural materials. These contaminants are sometimes found in such tiny quantities that tests are unable to reliably pick them up. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nanotech-chemical-composition-impurities-air.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:41:04 EDT news610018861 Improvements in crop productivity and nutritional value are needed to meet increased global demand for food in terms of both quantity and quality. A strategy being investigated by KAUST researchers to address the issue is the controlled delivery of bioactive molecules, such as growth-stimulating compounds and micronutrients that can be stored in fruits or grains to stimulate stress tolerance and enhance crop yield and resistance to pathogens. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-delivery-micronutrients-growth.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:59:17 EDT news610016353 The research group of Yang Liangbao at the Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) has recently developed a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERMS) method to automatically capture target molecules in AgNP/MoS2 nano-pockets, which enables highly sensitive and long-duration dynamic detection of some chemical reaction processes. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scientists-special-nano-pocket-surface-enhanced-raman.html Nanomaterials Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:23:04 EDT news609765782 A cutting-edge practice by two Vanderbilt researchers that enhances light in nanoscale structures could help in the detection of diseases like cancer. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nanoscale-aid-cancer.html Bio & Medicine Nanophysics Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:22:52 EDT news609765770 A more efficient way to test SARS-CoV-2 virus was developed recently by a research team led by Professor Wang Junfeng from Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS). The novel nano-immune magnetic bead (Mal-IMB) they developed in this research can efficiently be bound to SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus in the study of protein biomimetic mineralization and synthesized into magnetic nanoparticles. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nano-immune-magnetic-bead-faster-sars-cov-.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:03:13 EDT news609764537 Counterfeiting is a serious problem affecting a wide range of industries—from medicine to electronics, inflicting enormous economic losses, posing safety concerns and putting health at risk. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-diamond-microparticles-high-anti-counterfeit.html Nanomaterials Fri, 28 Jul 2023 11:25:03 EDT news609762302 In recent years, there has been a growing interest in using silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs), nanoscale silver particles composed of tens to hundreds of atoms, across various fields like material science, chemistry, and biology. Ag NCs typically have sizes ranging from 1–3 nm. Scientists have made significant progress in creating and manipulating Ag NCs, leading to the development of silver cluster-assembled materials (SCAMs). https://phys.org/news/2023-07-silver-cluster-assembled-materials-environmental.html Nanomaterials Thu, 27 Jul 2023 16:17:03 EDT news609693422 Scientists have found a way to use nanotechnology to create a 3D "scaffold" to grow cells from the retina—paving the way for potential new ways of treating a common cause of blindness. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-retina-cells-cultured-nanofiber-scaffolds.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:14:04 EDT news609689641 QUT researchers have developed a new approach for designing molecular ON-OFF switches based on proteins which can be used in a multitude of biotechnological, biomedical and bioengineering applications. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-protein-nano-switch-method-rapid-reliable.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:39:42 EDT news609683978 Researchers in the National Graphene Institute (NGI) at The University of Manchester have revisited one of the most ancient materials on Earth—graphite—and discovered new physics that has eluded the field for decades. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-moir-surface-bulk-states-capturing-hofstadter.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:30:32 EDT news609683424 Separation processes are essential in the purification and concentration of a target molecule during water purification, removal of pollutants, and heat pumping, accounting for 10–15% of global energy consumption. To make the separation processes more energy efficient, improvement in the design of porous materials is necessary. This could drastically reduce energy costs by about 40–70%. The primary approach to improving the separation performance is to precisely control the pore structure. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-fullerene-pillared-porous-graphene-high-adsorption.html Nanomaterials Thu, 27 Jul 2023 12:53:03 EDT news609681181 Carbon nanotubes, large cylindrical molecules composed of hybridized carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure, recently attracted significant attention among electronics engineers. Due to their geometric configuration and advantageous electronic properties, these unique molecules could be used to create smaller field-effect transistors (FETs) that exhibit high energy efficiencies. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-scaling-aligned-carbon-nanotube-transistors.html Nanomaterials Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:40:01 EDT news609674556 Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have designed an innovative RNA-based strategy to activate dendritic cells—which play a key role in immune response—that eradicated tumors and prevented their recurrence in mouse models of melanoma. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-lipid-nanoparticle-mrna-therapy-combats-melanoma.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609672889 The portable and electric energy storage market has long been dominated by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors, surpassing other energy storage systems in their ability to provide higher energy and power. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-advancing-heteroatom-doped-porous-carbon-nanomaterials.html Nanomaterials Wed, 26 Jul 2023 15:10:06 EDT news609603001 Dr. Amir Asadi, an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University, is making groundbreaking strides in the field of composite materials. His research explores embedding patterned nanostructures composed of multiple materials into high-performance composites to achieve the desired multifunctionality without sacrificing any other properties. This could lead to advancements in various fields, including electronics, energy storage, transportation and consumer products. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-approach-properties-composite-materials.html Nanomaterials Wed, 26 Jul 2023 12:06:39 EDT news609591996 Prof. Jiang Changlong's team at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed and synthesized two highly effective ratiometric fluorescence nanoprobes. The nanoprobes were combined with the color recognition function of smartphones to achieve visual quantitative detection of pesticides in food and environmental water. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nanoprobe-visual-quantitative-pesticides.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:34:36 EDT news609586473 The term molybdenum disulfide may sound familiar to some car drivers and mechanics. No wonder: the substance, discovered by U.S. chemist Alfred Sonntag in the 1940s, is still used today as a high-performance lubricant in engines and turbines, but also for bolts and screws. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-characterizing-atomic-defects-2d-materials.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:57:36 EDT news609515853 New research has unveiled the fatigue resistance of 2D hybrid materials. These materials, known for their low cost and high performance, have long-held promise across semiconductor fields. However, their durability under cyclic loading conditions remained a mystery—until now. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-explores-durability-2d-hybrid-materials.html Nanomaterials Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:38:03 EDT news609514681 Graphene is a two-dimensional wonder material that has been suggested for a wide range of applications in energy, technology, construction, and more since it was first isolated from graphite in 2004. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-deeper-graphene-rainbow.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:37:03 EDT news609514621