SEPARATING THE HYPE AND THE BUZZ - Thursday, April 15, 2010

NEWSWORTHY

The charge of nanoparticles
Research conducted by chemists and chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst revealed that positively charged nanoparticles are better absorbed by cell membranes whereas negatively charged nanoparticles diffuse and deliver drugs deep into tissues. To study different uptake and diffusions rates, they devised a three-dimensional cylindroidal “laboratory tumor” device. To control/change polarities for nanoparticles, they invented 2-nanometer core gold nanoparticles that when coated with varying chemicals develop specific polarities. See AtoZ Nano, Nanowerk, and Nature.

Virus to assemble nanoscale components
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology identified a type of modified virus capable of assembling nanoscale components to split water into hydrogen and oxygen molecules. They found that a bacterial virus called M13 mimics a wire-like device and along with a catalyst (iridium oxide) and a biological pigment (zinc porphyrins) is capable of splitting water molecules. This finding can help in organizing nanoscale components to control electron transfer rates in artificial photosynthesis. It could, in the future, also aid in generating electricity through fuel cells or could fuel automobiles. See AtoZ Nano, Nanowerk, and Nature.

Nanosensors for civil structures
Engineers at the North Dakota State University, the National Institute of Applied Sciences, in Tunisia, and a team from Alabama A&M University devised wireless sensors for monitoring concrete systems. The device using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) was developed to monitor temperature and moisture within concrete and another device using a long gauge nanotube was used for crack detection in feasibility studies. These devices could enable construction of “self-sensing concrete structures.” See AtoZ Nano, Nanowerk, and International Journal of Materials and Structural Integrity.

Mechanism for strength
Researchers from China and the United States (Brown University and University of Alabama) developed a mechanism to gauge the strength of nanostructured materials. They observed that as the space between the nanotwinned boundaries (i.e., when a grain of a material is divided, boundaries appear that are flat and crystal surfaces that reflect the crystal orientations across them) decreased from 100 nm to 15 nm the strength increased whereas decreasing it further resulted in the weakening of the material. A 3D simulation was performed to observe the mechanism that determines this peak strength. See AtoZ Nano, First Science, Nanotech Wire, Nanowerk, and Nature.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Nanoparticle vaccines
Researchers at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada developed a nanoparticle-based vaccine to cure type 1 diabetes which is caused when T-cells (a type of white blood cells) by mistake destroy insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The nanoparticle vaccine, tested on mice, works by expanding the peptide-specific regulatory cells which restrains the immune attack on the beta cells. See AtoZ Nano, First Science, and Nanotech Wire.

Nano-bio-chip for oral cancer
Researchers at the Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Centers at Houston and San Antonio, and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, developed a device that can detect oral cancer from lesions on the tongue or cheek with a nano-bio-chip (a semiconductor-based device that can arrest and analyze biomarkers). They compared a nano-bio-chip to a traditional sensor and found the nano device to be 97 percent "sensitive" and 93 percent specific in detecting malignant or premalignant lesions in patients. See AtoZ Nano, First Science, Nanotech Wire, Nanowerk, and Cancer Prevention Research.

Nanoscale friction
A research team from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University studied nanoscale frictional characteristics using four atomically thin materials (graphene, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), hexagonal-BN (h-BN), and niobium diselenide (NbSe2)). They examined each of the four types of atomic thin materials at the nanoscale and the bulk level and found that friction increased as the number of layers was reduced. This finding can be applied in future nanoelectronics. See AtoZ Nano and Nanowerk.

Silver nano for the environment
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have found that using nanoclusters of silver as a catalyst in the production of propylene oxide (used to make plastics) can reduce the amount of harmful by-products. It was found that the three-atom clusters or clusters of 3.5 nm were active and selective catalysts at low temperatures. See AtoZ Nano, Nanotech Wire, Nanowerk, and Science.

Harmless carbon nanotubes
A study conducted by scientists in Ireland, Sweden and the US revealed that an enzyme called myeloperoxidase (MPO) (found in white blood cells) can break carbon nanotubes into carbon and water. This finding can reduce effects such as severe inflammation, impaired lung functions, and in some cases cancer caused due to the inability of breaking down carbon nanotubes into harmless components. See AtoZ Nano, First Science, Nanotech Wire, Nanowerk, and Nature.