"We have developed a smart SERS biosensor for the rapid screening of bladder cancer, "says Olivo."
Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy resources and represents a clean and ultimate replacement for fossil fuels in the future.
Organic photovoltaic (OPV) has been regarded as one of the promising candidates for large-scale low-cost and efficient solar energy harvesting.
With open-circuit voltage of 0. 573 V and fill factor of 57.9%this nanobowl solar cell achieved a solar energy conversion efficiency of 3. 12
The renewable energy sources of tomorrow will often be found far away from the end user. Wind turbines, for example, are most effective when placed out at sea.
Solar energy will have the greatest impact on the European energy system if focus is on transport of solar power from North africa and Southern Europe to Northern europe."
"Reducing energy losses during electric power transmission is one of the most important factors for the energy systems of the future,
"says Chalmers researcher Christian Müller.""The other two are development of renewable energy sources and technologies for energy storage."
"Together with colleagues from Chalmers University of Technology and the company Borealis in Sweden, he has found a powerful method for reducing energy losses in alternating current cables.
Carbon nanoballs can greatly contribute to sustainable energy supply Wind turbines are most effective when placed out at sea.
#'Trojan horse'proteins are step forward for nanoparticle-based anticancer and anti-dementia therapeutic approaches Scientists at Brunel University London have found a way of targeting hard-to-reach cancers
The researchers designed a wearable artificial skin made out of tiny domes that interlock and deform when poked
A precise control and manipulation of quantum-mechanical states could pave the way for promising applications such as quantum computers and quantum cryptography.
A new study shows that this feature could facilitate easier nanoscale manufacturing of biosensors and plasmonic devices with intricate high-density surface structures.
Last year materials scientist Chunmei Ban and her colleagues at the National Renewable energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado and the University of Colorado Boulder found that they could cover silicon nanoparticles with a rubberlike coating made from aluminum glycerol.
#Atmospheric carbon dioxide used for energy storage products Chemists and engineers at Oregon State university have discovered a fascinating new way to take some of the atmospheric carbon dioxide that's causing the greenhouse effect
and use it to make an advanced high-value material for use in energy storage products.
However it will provide an environmentally friendly low-cost way to make nanoporous graphene for use in supercapacitors-devices that can store energy and release it rapidly.
In the chemical reaction that was developed the end result is nanoporous graphene a form of carbon that's ordered in its atomic and crystalline structure.
There are other ways to fabricate nanoporous graphene but this approach is faster has little environmental impact
This methodology uses abundant carbon dioxide while making energy storage products of significant value. Because the materials involved are inexpensive
and nanoporous graphene a pure form of carbon that's remarkably strong and can efficiently conduct heat and electricity.
By comparison other methods to make nanoporous graphene often use corrosive and toxic chemicals in systems that would be challenging to use at large commercial levels.
We want fast energy storage and release that will deliver more power and for that purpose the more conductive nanoporous graphene will work much better.
This solves a major problem in creating more powerful supercapacitors. A supercapacitor is a type of energy storage device
And their energy storage abilities may help smooth out the power flow from alternative energy systems such as wind energy. They can power a defibrillator open the emergency slides on an aircraft
#Protons fuel graphene prospects Graphene impermeable to all gases and liquids can easily allow protons to pass through it,
In addition graphene membranes could be used to sieve hydrogen gas out of the atmosphere where it is present in minute quantities,
One-atom thick material graphene first isolated and explored in 2004 by a team at The University of Manchester is renowned for its barrier properties
For example it would take the lifetime of the universe for hydrogen the smallest of all atoms to pierce a graphene monolayer.
whether protons are repelled also by graphene. They fully expected that protons would be blocked as existing theory predicted as little proton permeation as for hydrogen.
The discovery makes monolayers of graphene and its sister material boron nitride attractive for possible uses as proton-conducting membranes
The University of Manchester research suggests that the use of graphene or monolayer boron nitride can allow the existing membranes to become thinner and more efficient with less fuel crossover and poisoning.
Because graphene can be produced these days in square metre sheets we hope that it will find its way to commercial fuel cells sooner rather than later r
High quality three-dimensional nanoporous graphene More information: Advanced Materials Interfaces onlinelibrary. wiley. com/store/#et/admi201400084. pd
The work is based on the concept of surface plasmon resonance: metal nanostructures can scatter different wavelengths (colors) of light due to the fact that the tiny nanostructures themselves resonate at different wavelengths.
When associate professor Qi Hua Fan of the electrical engineering and computer science department set out to make a less expensive supercapacitor for storing renewable energy he developed a new plasma technology that will streamline the production of display screens.
His research focuses on nanostructured materials used for photovoltaics energy storage and displays. Last spring Fan received a proof-of-concept grant from the Department of energy through the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center to determine
if biochar a byproduct of the a process that converts plants materials into biofuel could be used in place of expensive activated carbon to make electrodes for supercapacitors.
whose research focuses on energy storage materials and devices. They plan to use these promising results to apply for federal funding.
#Graphene/nanotube hybrid benefits flexible solar cells Rice university scientists have invented a novel cathode that may make cheap, flexible dye-sensitized solar cells practical.
from nanotubes that are bonded seamlessly to graphene and replaces the expensive and brittle platinum-based materials often used in earlier versions.
The graphene/nanotube hybrid came along two years ago. Dubbed"James'bond"in honor of its inventor, Rice chemist James Tour, the hybrid features a seamless transition from graphene to nanotube.
The graphene base is grown via chemical vapor deposition and a catalyst is arranged in a pattern on top.
When heated again carbon atoms in an aerosol feedstock attach themselves to the graphene at the catalyst,
which lifts off and allows the new nanotubes to grow. When the nanotubes stop growing,
First, the graphene and nanotubes are grown directly onto the nickel substrate that serves as an electrode,
With no interruption in the atomic bonds between nanotubes and graphene, the material's entire area, inside and out, becomes one large surface.
Based on recent work on flexible graphene-based anode materials by the Lou and Tour labs and synthesized high-performance dyes by other researchers,
This quality relied on a phenomenon known as surface plasmon resonance, but, by changing the polarization of the light as it entered the nanowire,
Once ingested the nanoparticles act as a Trojan horse releasing the loosely bound dsrna into the insect gut.
Some of the first and most impressive of their findings showed that MXENES have a great potential for energy storage.
or even graphene said Chang Ren Gogotsi's doctoral student at Drexel. When mixing MXENE with PVA containing some electrolyte salt the polymer plays the role of electrolyte
Crumpled graphene could provide an unconventional energy storag g
#Microtubes create cozy space for neurons to grow and grow fast Tiny, thin microtubes could provide a scaffold for neuron cultures to grow
And of course any biosensor needs to be accurate. You need to know the numbers. Is it 100%accurate?
The nanodaisies'outer shells of PEG protect their payload of drugs and keep them from prematurely leaking.
#A billion holes can make a battery Researchers at the University of Maryland have invented a single tiny structure that includes all the components of a battery that they say could bring about the ultimate miniaturization of energy storage components.
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.
#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."
"With our integrated graphene nanopore with plasmonic optical antenna, we can obtain direct optical DNA sequence detection,
which a hot spot on a graphene membrane formed a nanopore with a self-integrated optical antenna.
"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 atomically thin nature of the graphene membrane makes it ideal for high resolution, high throughput,
"In addition, either the gold nanoplasmonic optical antenna or the graphene can be functionalized to be responsive to different base-pair combinations,
"The results of this study were reported in Nano Letters in a paper titled"Graphene nanopore with a Self-Integrated Optical Antenna. e
#Dual-purpose film for energy storage hydrogen catalysis: Chemists gain edge in next-gen energy Rice university scientists who want to gain an edge in energy production
or be used for energy storage. The versatile chemical compound classified as a dichalcogenide is inert along its flat sides
Molybdenum disulfide isn't quite as flat as graphene the atom-thick form of pure carbon
When viewed from above it looks like graphene with rows of ordered hexagons. But seen from the side three distinct layers are revealed with sulfur atoms in their own planes above and below the molybdenum.
#Researchers improve thermal conductivity of common plastic by adding graphene coating (Phys. org) A team of engineering
and physics researchers with members from the U s. the U k. and the Republic of Muldova has found that covering a common type of plastic with a graphene coating can increase its conductivity by up to 600 times.
Conversely graphene is an excellent conductor of heat (in the 2000-5000 W/mk range)
In this new effort the researchers sought to improve heat conduction in a plastic by applying graphene to its surface.
Graphene for the experiment was grown in sheets just a few microns thick and then applied to a thin sheet of PET.
The researchers suggest the graphene coated PET could be used in thermal management applications or thermal lighting
Researchers combine graphene and copper in hopes of shrinking electronics More information: Thermal conductivity of Graphene Laminate Nano Lett. 2014 14 (9) pp 5155-5161.
DOI: 10.1021/nl501996v. On Arxiv: http://arxiv. org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1407/1407.1359. pdfabstractwe have investigated thermal conductivity of graphene laminate films deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates.
Two types of graphene laminate were studied as deposited and compressed in order to determine the physical parameters affecting the heat conduction the most.
The measurements were performed using the optothermal Raman technique and a set of suspended samples with the graphene laminate thickness from 9 to 44 m. The thermal conductivity of graphene laminate was found to be in the range from 40 to 90 W/mk at room temperature.
It was found unexpectedly that the average size and the alignment of graphene flakes are more important parameters defining the heat conduction than the mass density of the graphene laminate.
The thermal conductivity scales up linearly with the average graphene flake size in both uncompressed and compressed laminates.
The compressed laminates have higher thermal conductivity for the same average flake size owing to better flake alignment.
Coating plastic materials with thin graphene laminate films that have up to 600 higher thermal conductivity than plastics may have important practical implications s
they developed and manufactured a miniaturized device that works by surface plasmon resonance. Roughly, it measures the concentration of serum (or blood) methotrexate through gold nanoparticles on the surface of a receptacle.
Moreover, the comparative tests were performed by laboratory technicians who were experienced not with surface plasmon resonance and did not encounter major difficulties in operating the new equipment
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
#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.
This additive substantially increases the production of biogas 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,
According to researchers, today's biogas production is not very efficient-only 30 to 40 per cent of organic matter is converted into biogas
thus favouring the use of this renewable source of energy, "affirms Eudald Casals, ICN2 researcher participating in the project.
thereby greatly increasing the production of biogas, a renewable energy which is growing steadily and is accessible to everyone,
they actually stimulated the production of biogas, "he adds. Researchers saw this discovery as the opportunity to begin a business project
#Research unlocks potential of super-compound Researchers at The University of Western australia's have discovered that nano-sized fragments of graphene sheets of pure carbon-can speed up the rate of chemical reactions.
because it suggested that graphene might have potential applications in catalysing chemical reactions of industrial importance.
Graphene was one of the most exciting materials to work with in nanotechnology because its two-dimensional structure and unique chemical properties made it a promising candidate for new applications such as energy storage material composites as well as computing
and electronics Assistant professor Karton said. Ever since the discovery of graphene in 2004 scientists have been looking for potential applications in nanochemistry he said.
Using powerful supercomputers researchers at UWA discovered that graphene nanoflakes can significantly enhance the rates of a range of chemical reactions.
Graphene is remarkably strong for its low weight-about 100 times stronger than steel -and it conducts heat and electricity with great efficiency.
The global market for graphene is reported to have reached US$9 million this year with most sales concentrated in the semiconductor electronics battery energy and composites.
Assistant professor Karton said the current investigation showed that graphene nonoflakes could efficiently catalyse a range of chemical reactions.
The next steps would be to extend the catalytic scope to other types of chemical reactions and extend the scope of the study to'infinite'graphene sheets rather than graphene nanoflakes he said d
#Researchers patent a nanofluid that improves heat conductivity Researchers at the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) have developed
thus becoming a useful technology in all industrial applications using heat transfer systems such as solar power plants, nuclear power plants, combined-cycle power plants and heating, among other.
cores of nuclear reactor, solar farms, etc. to the system that is going to use it (thermal storage systems, steam generators, chemical reactors, etc..
#Atom-width graphene sensors could provide unprecedented insights into brain structure and function Understanding the anatomical structure
The new device uses graphene a recently discovered form of carbon on a flexible plastic backing that conforms to the shape of tissue.
The graphene sensors are electrically conductive but only 4 atoms thick less than 1 nanometer and hundreds of times thinner than current contacts.
Moreover graphene is nontoxic to biological systems an improvement over previous research into transparent electrical contacts that are much thicker rigid difficult to manufacture and reliant on potentially toxic metal alloys.
graphene which earned researchers the 2010 Nobel prize in Physics; super-resolved fluorescent microscopy which earned researchers the 2014 Nobel prize in Chemistry;
Graphene-based carbon-layered electrode array technology for neural imaging and optogenetic applications. Nature Communications 5 Article number:
The National Science Foundation (NSF)- funded scientist theorized correctly that he could adapt it to separate carbon nanotubes rolled sheets of graphene (a single atomic layer of hexagonally bonded carbon atoms) long recognized for their potential applications in computers
#See-through one-atom-thick carbon electrodes powerful tool to study brain disorders Researchers from the Perelman School of medicine and School of engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have used graphene
The Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics (CNT) under the leadership of senior author Brian Litt Phd has solved this problem with the development of a completely transparent graphene microelectrode that allows for simultaneous optical imaging
and their colleagues Kuzum notes that the team developed a neuroelectrode technology based on graphene to achieve high spatial and temporal resolution simultaneously.
Aside from the obvious benefits of its transparency graphene offers other advantages: It can act as an anti-corrosive for metal surfaces to eliminate all corrosive electrochemical reactions in tissues Kuzum says.
Another advantage of graphene is that it's flexible so we can make very thin flexible electrodes that can hug the neural tissue Kuzum notes.
The graphene microelectrodes developed could have wider application. They can be used in any application that we need to record electrical signals such as cardiac pacemakers
or peripheral nervous system stimulators says Kuzum. Because of graphene's nonmagnetic and anti-corrosive properties these probes can also be a very promising technology to increase the longevity of neural implants.
Graphene's nonmagnetic characteristics also allow for safe artifact-free MRI reading unlike metallic implants. Kuzum emphasizes that the transparent graphene microelectrode technology was achieved through an interdisciplinary effort of CNT and the departments of Neuroscience Pediatrics and Materials science at Penn and the division of Neurology at CHOP.
Ertugrul Cubukcu's lab at Materials science and engineering Department helped with the graphene processing technology used in fabricating flexible transparent neural electrodes as well as performing optical and materials characterization in collaboration with Euijae Shim and Jason Reed.
The simultaneous imaging and recording experiments involving calcium imaging with confocal and two photon microscopy was performed at Douglas Coulter's Lab at CHOP with Hajime Takano.
In vivo recording experiments were performed in collaboration with Halvor Juul in Marc Dichter's Lab. Somatasensory stimulation response experiments were done in collaboration with Timothy Lucas's Lab Julius De vries and Andrew Richardson.
and renewable energy storage, high-density energy storage systems are needed. Lithium-ion batteries, though mature and widely utilized, have encountered the theoretical limit
"Due to excellent electrical conductivity, mechanical strength and chemical stability, nanocarbon materials have played an essential role in the area of advanced energy storage,
which is also favorable for graphene, CNT-graphene, CNTMETAL oxide based flexible electrodes, "Qiang said."
#New self-assembly method for fabricating graphene nanoribbons First characterized in 2004 graphene is a two-dimensional material with extraordinary properties.
The thickness of just one carbon atom and hundreds of times faster at conducting heat and charge than silicon graphene is expected to revolutionize high-speed transistors in the near future.
Graphene's exotic electronic and magnetic properties can be tailored by cutting large sheets of the material down to ribbons of specific lengths
Now scientists from UCLA and Tohoku University have discovered a new self-assembly method for producing defect-free graphene nanoribbons with periodic zigzag-edge regions.
In this bottom-up technique researchers use a copper substrate's unique properties to change the way the precursor molecules react to one another as they assemble into graphene nanoribbons.
This new method of graphene fabrication by self-assembly is a stepping stone toward the production of self-assembled graphene devices that will vastly improve the performance of data storage circuits batteries and electronics.
To make devices out of graphene we need to control its geometric and electronic structures Weiss said.
Making zigzag edges does both of these simultaneously as there are some special properties of graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edges.
Other bottom-up methods of fabricating graphene have been attempted but they have produced bundles of ribbons that need to be isolated subsequently
Our method opens the possibility for self-assembling single-graphene devices at desired locations because of the length and the direction control l
#A simple and versatile way to build 3-dimensional materials of the future Researchers in Japan have developed a novel yet simple technique called diffusion driven layer-by-layer assembly to construct graphene into porous
Graphene is essentially an ultra-thin sheet of carbon and possesses exciting properties such as high mechanical stability and remarkable electrical conductivity.
However the thin structure of graphene also acts as a major obstacle for practical uses. When piecing together these tiny sheets into larger structures the sheets easily stack with one another resulting in a significant loss of unique material properties.
and developed it into a technique to assemble graphene into porous 3d architectures while preventing stacking between the sheets.
By putting graphene oxide (an oxidized form of graphene) into contact with an oppositely charged polymer the two components could form a stable composite layer a process also known as interfacial complexation.
and induce additional reactions which allowed the graphene-based composite to develop into thick multilayered structures.
The resulting products display a foam-like porous structure ideal for maximizing the benefits of graphene with the porosity tunable from ultra-light to highly dense through simple changes in experimental conditions.
While we have demonstrated only the construction of graphene-based structures in this study we strongly believe that the new technique will be able to serve as a general method for the assembly of a much wider range of nanomaterials concluded Franklin Kim the principal investigator of the study y
#Physicists set new records for silicon quantum computing Two research teams working in the same laboratories at UNSW Australia have found distinct solutions to a critical challenge that has held back the realisation of super
powerful quantum computers. The teams created two types of quantum bits or qubits the building blocks for quantum computers that each process quantum data with an accuracy above 99%.
%The two findings have been published simultaneously today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. For quantum computing to become a reality we need to operate the bits with very low error rates says Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak who is Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW where the devices were made.
We've now come up with two parallel pathways for building a quantum computer in silicon each
of which shows this super accuracy adds Associate professor Andrea Morello from UNSW's School of Electrical engineering and Telecommunications.
& Communication Technology were first in the world to demonstrate single-atom spin qubits in silicon reported in Nature in 2012 and 2013.
Now the team led by Dzurak has discovered a way to create an artificial atom qubit with a device remarkably similar to the silicon transistors used in consumer electronics known as MOSFETS.
Postdoctoral researcher Menno Veldhorst lead author on the paper reporting the artificial atom qubit says It is really amazing that we can make such an accurate qubit using pretty much the same devices as we have in our laptops and phones.
Meanwhile Morello's team has been pushing the natural phosphorus atom qubit to the extremes of performance.
Dr Juha Muhonen a postdoctoral researcher and lead author on the natural atom qubit paper notes:
The phosphorus atom contains in fact two qubits: the electron and the nucleus. With the nucleus in particular we have achieved accuracy close to 99.99%.
The high-accuracy operations for both natural and artificial atom qubits is achieved by placing each inside a thin layer of specially purified silicon containing only the silicon-28 isotope.
This isotope is perfectly nonmagnetic and unlike those in naturally occurring silicon does not disturb the quantum bit.
The next step for the researchers is to build pairs of highly accurate quantum bits. Large quantum computers are expected to consist of many thousands
or millions of qubits and may integrate both natural and artificial atoms. Morello's research team also established a world-record coherence time for a single quantum bit held in solid state.
Coherence time is a measure of how long you can preserve quantum information before it's lost Morello says.
The longer the coherence time the easier it becomes to perform long sequences of operations and therefore more complex calculations.
Pairing up single atoms in silicon for quantum computing More information: Storing quantum information for 30 seconds in a nanoelectronic device Nature Nanotechnology DOI:
10.1038/nnano. 2014.211 An addressable quantum dot qubit with fault-tolerant control-fidelity Nature Nanotechnology DOI:
and other sensory roles with high precision, to create novel hybrid bioelectronic devices, "said Professor Steve Evans,
this area of research could revolutionise renewable energy production. Working in collaboration with researchers at the University of Sheffield,
#New absorber will lead to better biosensors Biological sensors or biosensors are like technological canaries in the coalmine.
By converting a biological response into an optical or electrical signal they can alert us to dangers in our external and internal environments.
An optical biosensor works by absorbing a specific bandwidth of light and shifting the spectrum
The narrower the band of absorbed light is the more sensitive the biosensor. Currently plasmonic absorbers used in biosensors have a resonant bandwidth of 50 nanometers said Koray Aydin assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University's Mccormick School of engineering and Applied science.
It is significantly challenging to design absorbers with narrower bandwidths. Aydin and his team have created a new nanostructure that absorbs a very narrow spectrum of light#having a bandwidth of just 12 nanometers.
This ultranarrow band absorber can be used for a variety of applications including better biosensors. We believe that our unique narrowband absorber design will enhance the sensitivity of biosensors Aydin said.
It's been a challenge to sense very small particles or very low concentrations of a substance.
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