SEPARATING THE HYPE AND THE BUZZ - Monday, February 15, 2010

NEWSWORTHY

Nano materials to cause cancer “cell suicide”
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago Medical Center have created microdiscs of nanomagnetic materials to destroy cancer cells. These gold plated iron-nickel microdiscs place themselves on cancer cells and begin to oscillate when an alternating magnetic field is applied to them. The energy developed from these oscillations creates apoptosis or “cell suicide.” See AtoZ Nano, Nanowerk, and Nature Materials.

Nano boost for hydrogen production
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz used nanotechnology to improve hydrogen production in water-splitting solar cells (cells that use sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen and use hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles). They tested the performance of nanostructured composite materials for photoanodes in photoelectrochemical cells. They found improvements in hydrogen production in comparison to the conventional methods of hydrogen produced through solar energy. See AtoZ Nano, Nanotech Wire, Nanowerk, and Nano Letters.

Nanophotocathode
Researchers at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) developed a nanophotocathode capable of producing hydrogen with an efficiency of 60 percent. The system consists of a gold electrode covered in layers of Indium phosphide (InP) nanoparticles. Iron–sulfur complex, [Fe2S2(CO)6] is then introduced to this combination and is submerged in water followed by light radiation. A small current is generated and hydrogen with 60 percent efficiency is produced. See AtoZ Nano, Nanowerk, and Angewandte Chemie.

“e-Textile” storage
Researchers from the Stanford University have devised a conductive textile called e-Textile that is capable of energy storage. By dipping the textile in nanoparticle ink different energy storage devises could be developed. Batteries can be developed using lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) ink and supercapacitors can be created through dipping the textile in ink containing conductive carbon molecules (single walled carbon nanotubes). See AtoZ Nano, Nanowerk, and Nano Letters.


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Cement component simulations
Atomic simulations of cement components were performed at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). They found that colloidal nanoparticle arrangement in C-S-H gel (calcium silicate hydrate – a major component in cement) was a factor responsible for mechanical properties of cement. They concluded that close arrangement of these particles makes the gel denser which improves mechanical properties of cement. See AtoZNano and Nanowerk.

Silver nanoparticles for ICDs
Research is being conducted at the University at Buffalo to develop batteries used in implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) with longer lifetimes. Current lifespan of these batteries runs from 5 to 7 years, but they are working on improving their material through making it 15000 times more conductive upon initial battery use through insitu generation of silver nanoparticles. See AtoZ Nano and Nanowerk.

Tracking nanoparticles in the “wild”
Research at Rice University has lead to new developments in tracking methods of nanoparticles. Researchers found photothermal techniques useful in tracking nanoparticles not only isolated on a surface, but also in the wild, amongst other particles under the microscope. They developed a method to use gold nanorods to sense nanoparticle orientation using plasmonic properties with polarization imaging techniques. See Nanowerk and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Microscope with nano precision
A research group at the University of Tübingen developed a near-field microscope with a nanometer precision that can be used to study microscopic structures in organic semiconductors. The microscope consists of a gold tip illuminated by a high-focus laser which when placed one-three nanometers above a semiconductor surface generates an optical field. Measurements of a semiconductor made of diindenoperylene (DIP) molecules indicated that edges of these molecules were one-three molecular layers high with17nm bright stripes. See AtoZ Nano and Nanowerk.