#Patent awarded for genetics-based nanotechnology against mosquitoes insect pests Kansas State university researchers have developed a patented method of keeping mosquitoes and other insect pests at bay.
U s. Patent 8841272 Double stranded-rna RNA-Based Nanoparticles for Insect Gene Silencing was awarded recently to the Kansas State university Research Foundation a nonprofit corporation responsible for managing technology transfer activities
at the university. The patent covers microscopic genetics-based technology that can help safely kill mosquitos and other insect pests.
nanoparticles comprised of a nontoxic biodegradable polymer matrix and insect derived double-stranded ribonucleic acid or dsrna.
After testing a series of unsuccessful genetic techniques the team turned to a nanoparticle-based approach.
Once ingested the nanoparticles act as a Trojan horse releasing the loosely bound dsrna into the insect gut.
which the nanoparticle-based method was developed the technology can be applied to other insect pests Zhu said.
When you make baits containing gene-specific nanoparticles you may be able to kill the insects through the RNAI pathway.
of 2 nm creating a powerful and versatile nanoscale imaging tool with exciting promise and potential for the materials and biological sciences.
Working at the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM)/ X-ray Science Division 26-ID beamline of the U s. Department of energy's Advanced Photon Source the researchers took advantage of some new technological innovations
Both that remarkable resolution and the precise chemical fingerprinting of individual nickel nanoclusters were also clearly evident in the topographic images of the sample surface even down to the height of a single atom.
Even in its present form the techniques demonstrated here can revolutionize nanoscale imaging in realms far beyond materials science including electronics and biology.
Researchers at Drexel University and Dalian University of Technology in China have engineered chemically a new electrically conductive nanomaterial that is flexible enough to fold
This flexible new material which the group has identified as a conductive polymer nanocomposite is the latest expression of the ongoing research in Drexel's Department of Materials science and engineering on a family of composite two-dimensional materials called MXENES.
To produce the flexible conductive polymer nanocomposite the researchers intercalated the titanium carbide MXENE with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)- a polymer widely used as the paper adhesive known as school
The uniqueness of MXENES comes from the fact that their surface is full of functional groups such as hydroxyl leading to a tight bonding between the MXENE flakes and polymer molecules while preserving the metallic conductivity of nanometer-thin
This leads to a nanocomposite with a unique combination of properties said Gogotsi. The results of both sets of MXENE testing were published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
We have shown that the volumetric capacitance of an MXENE-polymer nanocomposite can be compared much higher to conventional carbon-based electrodes
The testing also revealed hydrophilic properties of the nanocomposite which means that it could have uses in water treatment systems such as membrane for water purification
These characteristics mark the trail heads of a variety of paths for research on this nanocomposite material for applications from flexible armor to aerospace components.
and polymer will affect the properties of the resulting nanocomposite and also exploring other MXENES and stronger and tougher polymers for structural applications.
'Last week US tech giants Google made a splash in the media announcing plans to develop new'disease-detecting magnetic nanoparticles'.
So we spoke to Professor Duncan Graham a UK-based nanoscientist from University of Strathclyde
The technical definition is that a nanoparticle is an object that is less than 100 nanometres wide along one of its edges Professor Graham told us.
A nanometre is a thousandth of a thousandth of a millimetre. In other words it's tiny.
Nanoparticles can be made of anything they can be metallic organic or inorganic and they come in all manner of different shapes
Nanoparticles have been around for centuries. Ancient art has used nanoparticles. They're in stained glass windows. The Lycurgus Cup in The british Museum looks so magical
because it's made of glass containing gold nanoparticles. And more immediately they're already used in medical detectors for example the pregnancy tests you buy over-the-counter work use gold nanoparticles attached to antibodies.
They're really nothing new although they're incredibly interesting to researchers. Another ubiquitous use is in antimicrobial products
which can contain suspensions of silver nanoparticles (but don't drink them you'll go blue). Why are they good for medical detection?
Nanoparticles have an extremely high surface area in relation to their volume. This means they can carry a lot of'stuff'on their surface proteins from blood for example.
And this means they're good for detecting things because they can really boost a signalfor example a protein that's relatively scarce in the blood
and therefore difficult to measure can collect on some nanoparticles in amounts large enough to detect.
There's a bewildering amount of modification that researchers around the world are adding to the surface of nanoparticles.
Google have been similarly vague about the precise form of nanotechnology they aim to use Graham points out:
How does all this fit into the wider field of nanotechnology and diagnostics? This isn't all about Google says Graham.
either using optical (light-based) detection where nanoparticles are used to either emit light directly or change the optical properties of their surroundings or magnetic systems.
His team are doing some really interesting stuff with regards imaging using nanoparticles says Graham.
it seems according to this article in Wired that Gambhir originally advised Google about nanotechnology. What are the current challenges facing nanodetectors?
In Professor Graham's view there are two serious hurdles for nanotechnologists to overcome before particle-based biosensing becomes a reality:
when you put nanoparticles into the body they tend to get removed from the body in the urine via the kidneys.
'This is where random nonspecific molecules stick to the nanoparticles and clog them up or deactivate them.
Are there any other applications of nanotechnology in the field of cancer? Of course it's not all about diagnostics.
There are other ways nanotechnology is being explored by cancer researchers. The other big focus of nanotech in cancer is to deliver treatments says Graham.
This is a field that's in its infancy lots of basic research in animals some of it promising
Professor Graham's'take-home'message is that it's a mistake to see Google as the only organisation focusing on nanotechnology to detect disease it's a vibrant active field with incredible potential but still in its early days.
By using one nanocarrier to contain two different drugs we can potentially reduce their dose
The nanocarriers are made from a polymer called polyethylene glycol (PEG) to which researchers attach the cancer-killing drug camptothecin (CPT) like bunches of grapes on a vine.
The resulting nanocarrier is shaped like a flower#hence the term nanodaisy. The idea came from thinking actively about folding proteins in nature noted Gu referring to the way amino acids can assemble themselves into thousands of different shapes.
Gu has led other research that#has yielded a bio-inspired cocoon that tricks cells into consuming anticancer drugs and an injectable nanonetwork that controls blood sugar levels in diabetics.
When I moved into the cancer treatments with nanotechnology that's when my mum became really excited about my work.
The structure is called a nanopore: a tiny hole in a ceramic sheet that holds electrolyte to carry the electrical charge between nanotube electrodes at either end.
The existing device is a test but the bitsy battery performs well. First author Chanyuan Liu a graduate student in materials science & engineering says that it can be charged fully in 12 minutes
Many millions of these nanopores can be crammed into one larger battery the size of a postage stamp.
because each nanopore is shaped just like the others which allows them to pack the tiny thin batteries together efficiently.
Coauthor Eleanor Gillette's modeling shows that the unique design of the nanopore battery is responsible for its success. The space inside the holes is so small that the space they take up all added together would be no more than a grain of sand.
#Team grows uniform nanowires A researcher from Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a new way to grow nanowire arrays with a determined diameter length and uniform consistency.
This approach to growing nanomaterials will improve the efficiency of various devices including solar cells and fuel cells.
These semiconducting nanowires could also replace thin films that cover today's solar panels. Current panels can process only 20 percent of the solar energy they take in.
By applying the nanowires the surface area of the panels would increase and allow more efficient solar energy capture and conversion.
The wires could also be applied in the biomedical field to maximize heat production in hyperthermia treatment of cancer.
In fuel cells these nanowire arrays can be used to lower production expenses by relying on more cost-efficient catalysts.
or outperform the current use of platinum and show that these nanowire arrays are better catalysts for the oxygen reduction reactions in the cells says Dr. Manashi Nath assistant professor of chemistry at Missouri S&t.
The nanowires which are grown on patterned nanoelectrodes are visible only through an electron microscope. Nath creates the nanowire arrays through a process that she calls confined electrodeposition on lithographically patterned nanoelectrodes.
To grow the nanowires Nath writes an image file that creates a pattern for the shape
and size she wants to produce. Using electron beam lithography she then stamps the pattern onto a polymer matrix
and the nanowires are grown by applying electric current through electrodeposition. Nath grows the nanowires in a parallel pattern
which resembles a series of nails protruding from a piece of lumber. One end is held secure to a metal conductor like copper
To increase the nanowires'surface area Nath can make them hollow in the middle much like carbon nanotubes found in optics and electronics.
The nanowires allow current to travel through them. The polymer which is nonconductive can be removed to allow the wires to stand freely
Now for the first time the researchers in Stuttgart have succeeded in devising a suitable propeller with a diameter of around 100 nanometres or one-tenth of a micrometre.
The miniature swimmer measures just 400 nanometres in length. To make their nano-propeller the scientists used a technique they developed themselves.
Other liquids in which such nanovehicles could deliver drugs for example include the vitreous humor of the eye mucous membranes and even blood.
#Researchers create unique graphene nanopores with optical antennas for DNA sequencing High-speed reading of the genetic code should get a boost with the creation of the world's first graphene nanopores pores measuring approximately 2 nanometers in diameter that feature a"built-in
one-step process for producing these nanopores in a graphene membrane using the photothermal properties of gold nanorods."
which a hot spot on a graphene membrane formed a nanopore with a self-integrated optical antenna.
The hot spot was created by photon-to-heat conversion of a gold nanorod.""We believe our approach opens new avenues for simultaneous electrical and optical nanopore DNA sequencing
and for regulating DNA translocation,"says Zettl, who is also a member of the Kavli Energy Nanoscience Institute (Kavli ENSI).
Nanopore sequencing of DNA, in which DNA strands are threaded through nanoscale pores and read one letter at a time,
has been touted for its ability to make DNA sequencing a faster and more routine procedure. Under today's technology, the DNA letters are"read"by an electrical current passing through nanopores fabricated on a silicon chip.
Trying to read electrical signals from DNA passing through thousands of nanopores at once, however, can result in major bottlenecks.
Adding an optical component to this readout would help eliminate such bottlenecks.""Direct and enhanced optical signals are obtained at the junction of a nanopore
and its optical antenna,"says Lee.""Simultaneously correlating this optical signal with the electrical signal from conventional nanopore sequencing provides an added dimension that would be an enormous advantage for high-throughput DNA readout."
"A key to the success of this effort is the single-step photothermal mechanism that enables the creation of graphene nanopores with self-aligned plasmonic optical antennas.
The dimensions of the nanopores and the optical characteristics of the plasmonic antenna are tunable, with the antenna functioning as both optical signal transducer and enhancer.
The atomically thin nature of the graphene membrane makes it ideal for high resolution, high throughput,
so that each base-pair fluoresces at a signature intensity as it passes through the junction of the nanopore and its optical antenna."
#Measuring nano-vibrations In a recent paper published in Nature Nanotechnology, Joel Moser and ICFO colleagues of the Nanooptomechanics research group led by Prof.
Adrian Bachtold, together with Marc Dykman (Michigan University), report on an experiment in which a carbon nanotube mechanical resonator exhibits quality factors of up to 5 million,
30 times better than the best quality factors measured in nanotubes to date. Imagine that the host of a dinner party tries to get his guests'attention by giving a single tap of his oyster spoon on his crystal glass.
Nowadays, carbon nanotube mechanical resonators are in demand because of their extremely small size and their outstanding capability of sensing objects at the nanoscale.
Like a guitar string or a tightrope, a carbon nanotube resonator consists of a tiny, vibrating bridge-like (string) structure with typical dimensions of 1#m in length and 1nm in diameter.
and because of this trend it was unthinkable that nanotubes could exhibit giant quality factors. The giant quality factors that ICFO researchers have measured have not been observed before in nanotube resonators mainly
because their vibrational states are extremely fragile and easily perturbed when measured. The values detected by the team of scientists was achieved through the use of an ultra-clean nanotube at cryostat temperatures of 30mk(-273.12 Celsius-colder than the temperature of outerspace!
and by employing an ultra-low noise method to detect minuscule vibrations quickly while reducing as much as possible the electrostatic noise.
since"nanotube resonators are enormously sensitive to surrounding electrical charges that fluctuate constantly. This stormy environment strongly affects our ability to capture the intrinsic behavior of nanotube resonators.
For this reason, we had to take a very large number of snapshots of the nanotube's mechanical behavior.
Only a few of these snapshots captured the intrinsic nature of the nanotube's dynamics, when the storm momentarily relented.
During these short quiet moments, the nanotube revealed its ultra-high quality factor to us"."With the discovery of such high quality factors from this study, ICFO scientists have opened a whole new realm of possibilities for sensing applications,
and quantum experiments. For instance, nanotube resonators might be used to detect individual nuclear spins, which would be an important step towards magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a spatial resolution at the atomic level.
For the moment, Adrian Bachtold comments that"achieving MRI at the atomic level would be fantastic. But, for this, we would first have to solve various technological problems that are extremely challenging. n
#Method for symmetry-breaking in feedback-driven self-assembly of optical metamaterials (Phys. org) If you can uniformly break the symmetry of nanorod pairs in a colloidal solution you're a step ahead of the game toward achieving new and exciting metamaterial properties.
The results have been published in Nature Nanotechnology. The paper is titled Feedback-driven self-assembly of symmetry-breaking optical metamaterials in solution.
which could surpass the conventional thermodynamic limit in chemical synthetic systems explains Sui Yang lead author of the Nature Nanotechnology paper and member of Zhang's research group.
This led the group to produce nanostructures that have historically been considered impossible to assemble. The widely used method of metamaterial synthesis is top-down fabrication such as electron beam
Starting with a solution of colloidal nanorods Yang and Ni built on the common self-assembly technique used to build nanoparticles.
The desired product when synthesizing colloidal gold nanorods which are stabilized during growth to obtain preferential bonding along longitudinal facets is pairs of rods
You have a pair of nanorods with no shift at all relative to one another; or a pair that are shifted too much;
This allowed them to separate out the undesired resonances indicating nanorod pairs that are shifted not the desired amount
we use the material's own properties to drive nanostructure formation in solution. This has the intrinsic value of making many structures in one batch.
The method developed in Zhang's research group can be applied to many other nanoparticles; indeed almost any structure that can self-assemble could be produced in this way.
The unique feedback mechanism leads to precisely controlled nanostructures with beyond conventional symmetries and functionalities.
What we see in the images are short 5-to 6-nanometer planes and a lot of edge as though the material had drilled bore holes all the way through.
#Better bomb-sniffing technology with new detector material University of Utah engineers have developed a new type of carbon nanotube material for handheld sensors that will be quicker
A carbon nanotube is a cylindrical material that is a hexagonal or six-sided array of carbon atoms rolled up into a tube.
The new kind of nanotubes also could lead to flexible solar panels that can be rolled up and stored or even"painted"on clothing such as a jacket,
they alter the electrical current through the nanotube materials, signaling the presence of any of those substances,
and monitor the current through the nanotube,"says Zang, a professor with USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research economic development initiative."
or toxic chemicals caught by the nanotube, you will see an increase or decrease in the current."
"By modifying the surface of the nanotubes with a polymer, the material can be tuned to detect any of more than a dozen explosives,
the Utah carbon nanotube technology has four advantages s
#A quantum leap in nanoparticle efficiency (Phys. org) New research has unlocked the secrets of efficiency in nanomaterials that is materials with very tiny particles
which will improve the future development of chemical sensors used in chemical and engineering industries.
Researchers found the precise geometry of nanoparticle pairs that maximises light concentration resolving a hotly debated area of quantum physics.
This geometry now determines the efficiency nanoparticle use as a chemical sensor in sensing minute quantities of chemicals in air and water.
concentration for fabricated nanoparticles. Professor Crozier said This work is important for engineers and scientists working in the nanomaterial industry y
#Researchers improve thermal conductivity of common plastic by adding graphene coating (Phys. org) A team of engineering
Published in Nature Nanotechnology researchers from Cardiff University have unveiled a new method for viewing nanodiamonds inside human living cells for purposes of biomedical research.
Nanodiamonds are very small particles (a thousand times smaller than human hair) and because of their low toxicity they can be used as a carrier to transport drugs inside cells.
There is a growing consensus among scientists that nanodiamonds are one of the best inorganic material alternatives for use in biomedical research, because of their compatibility with human cells,
Previous attempts by other research teams to visualise nanodiamonds under powerful light microscopes have run into the obstacle that the diamond material per se is transparent to visible light.
Locating the nanodiamonds under a microscope had relied on tiny defects in the crystal lattice which fluoresce under light illumination.
and in turn the image gleaned from the microscopic exploration of these flawed nanodiamonds, is sometimes also unstable.
In their latest paper, researchers from Cardiff University's Schools of Biosciences and Physics showed that non-fluorescing nanodiamonds (diamonds without defects) can be imaged optically
By focusing these laser beams onto the nanodiamond, a high-resolution CARS image is generated. Using an in-house built microscope,
the research team was able to measure the intensity of the CARS light on a series of single nanodiamonds of different sizes.
The nanodiamond size was measured accurately by means of electron microscopy and other quantitative optical contrast methods developed within the researcher's lab. In this way,
they were able to quantify the relationship between the CARS light intensity and the nanoparticle size.
and number of nanodiamonds that had been delivered into living cells, with a level of accuracy hitherto not achieved by other methods.
The next step for us will be to push the technique to detect nanodiamonds of even smaller sizes than what we have shown so far
Scientists specializing in nanotechnology continue to hunt for the perfect molecular recipe for a battery that drives down price increases durability and offers more miles on every charge.
and anode and leave behind detectable tracks of nanoscale damage. Crucially the high heat of vehicle environments can intensify these telltale degradation tracks and even cause complete battery failure.
and Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) completed a series of three studies each delving deeper into the molecular changes.
These new and fundamental insights may help engineers develop superior battery chemistries or nanoscale architectures that block this degradation.
and suggests new ways to enhance durability including the use of nanoscale coatings that reinforce stable structures.
#Breakthrough in molecular electronics paves the way for DNA-based computer circuits in the future In a paper published today in Nature Nanotechnology,
Molecular electronics, which uses molecules as building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components, was seen as the ultimate solution to the miniaturization challenge.
and devices in the development of programmable circuits, appears in the prestigious journal Nature Nanotechnology under the title"Long-range charge transport in single G-quadruplex DNA molecules."
Porath is affiliated with the Hebrew University's Institute of Chemistry and its Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
Porath,"This research paves the way for implementing DNA-based programmable circuits for molecular electronics which could lead to a new generation of computer circuits that can be sophisticated more,
#New nanodevice to improve cancer treatment monitoring In less than a minute, a miniature device developed at the University of Montreal can measure a patient's blood for methotrexate, a commonly used but potentially toxic cancer drug.
this nanoscale device has an optical system that can rapidly gauge the optimal dose of methotrexate a patient needs,
Gold nanoparticles on the surface of the receptacle change the colour of the light detected by the instrument.
Roughly, it measures the concentration of serum (or blood) methotrexate through gold nanoparticles on the surface of a receptacle.
the gold nanoparticles change the colour of the light detected by the instrument. And the colour of the light detected reflects the exact concentration of the drug in the blood sample.
We are interested only really in a nanoscale interfacial region and looking at the fluorescence photon signal we can't tell the difference between the interface
because electrons emitted from x-ray excited water molecules travel only nanometer distances through matter. The electrons arriving at the gold electrode surface can be detected as an electrical current traveling through a wire attached to it.
and instruments can separate this nanoampere modulated current from the main Faradaic current. These experiments result in absorption vs. x-ray energy curves (spectra) that reflect how water molecules within nanometers of the gold surface absorb the x-rays.
To translate that information into molecular structure a sophisticated theoretical analysis technique is needed. David Prendergast a staff scientist in the Molecular Foundry and researcher in the Joint Center for Energy storage Research (JCESR) has developed computational techniques that allow his team to accomplish this translation Using supercomputer facilities at Berkeley Lab
and these two layers span only about 1 nanometer. To observe any difference in the experimental spectra with varying voltage means that measurements are sensitive to a shorter length scale than was thought possible.
We had thought the sensitivity to be tens of nanometers but it turns out to be subnanometer says Prendergast.
That's spectacular! This study which is reported in Science in a paper titled The structure of interfacial water on gold electrodes studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy marks the first time that the scientific community has shown such high sensitivity in an in-situ environment under working electrode conditions s
the idea of a practical manufacturing process based on getting molecules to organize themselves in useful nanoscale shapes seemed...
so that it self-assembles into neat, precise, even rows of alternating composition just 10 or so nanometers wide.
Just recently, Intel Corp. announced that it had in production a new generation of chips with a 14-nanometer minimum feature size.
and in theory, you have a near-perfect pattern for lines spaced 10 to 20 nanometers apart to become, perhaps, part of a transistor array.
The technique can image an area about 500 nanometers across. Between them, the two techniques can yield detailed data on the performance of a given BCP patterning system.
#Nanoparticle technology triples the production of biogas Researchers of the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence,
which allows increasing the production of biogas by 200%with a controlled introduction of iron oxide nanoparticles to the process of organic waste treatment.
The development of Biogàsplus was carried out by the ICN2's Inorganic nanoparticle group, led by ICREA researcher Víctor Puntes,
The system is based on the use of iron oxide nanoparticles as an additive which"feeds"the bacteria in charge of breaking down organic matter.
and at the same time transforms the iron nanoparticles into innocuous salt.""We believe we are offering a totally innovative approach to the improvement of biogas production and organic waste treatment,
since this is the first nanoparticle application developed with this in mind. In addition, it offers a significant improvement in the decomposition of organic waste
Applied Nanoparticles, a Gateway to the Market"Our idea is the result of many projects:
"We were studying the toxicity of iron oxide nanoparticles in the waste treatment of anaerobic biological processes when we discovered that not only were they not toxic,
With that in mind, they created Applied Nanoparticles, gestated at the ICN2 and currently in the process of signing a knowledge transfer agreement with the UAB."
The grant money went towards testing the capacity of iron oxide nanoparticles, which helped to verify the efficacy of its application in a pilot 100 litre digester.
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