Nanomaterials news

Nano World: Black silicon for solar power

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Jun 23, 2006 | 4.3 / 5 (86) | 0

Silicon surfaces rendered black by pits and bumps only nanometers or billionths of a meter large could in the future help make solar power cells more efficient.

Scientists Create First Non-Carbon Material with Near-Diamond Hardness

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Mar 28, 2007 | 4.5 / 5 (76) | 0

Research scientists have created the first non-carbon-based material with a hardness approaching that of diamond. Their work could have a significant impact on technologies and industries that rely on diamond as a cutting ...

Inexpensive 'nanoglue' can bond nearly anything together

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

May 16, 2007 | 4.5 / 5 (74) | 0

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method to bond materials that don’t normally stick together. The team’s adhesive, which is based on self-assembling nanoscale chains, could ...

Researchers make breakthrough in renewable energy materials

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

May 29, 2008 | 4.4 / 5 (74) | 0

University of Queensland researchers have made a ground-breaking discovery that produces highly efficient miniature crystals which could revolutionise the way we harvest and use solar energy.

Self-powered devices possible, researcher says

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Dec 01, 2008 | 4.5 / 5 (71) | 11

Imagine a self-powering cell phone that never needs to be charged because it converts sound waves produced by the user into the energy it needs to keep running. It's not as far-fetched as it may seem thanks to the recent ...

Move over, silicon: Advances pave way for powerful carbon-based electronics

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Dec 18, 2007 | 4.7 / 5 (67) | 7

Bypassing decades-old conventions in making computer chips, Princeton engineers developed a novel way to replace silicon with carbon on large surfaces, clearing the way for new generations of faster, more powerful cell phones, ...

Novel nano-etched cavity makes leds 7 times brighter

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Jul 20, 2006 | 4.3 / 5 (73) | 0

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have made semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) more than seven times brighter by etching nanoscale grooves in a surrounding cavity to ...

Graphene-based gadgets may be just years away

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Apr 30, 2008 | 4.8 / 5 (63) | 3

Researchers at The University of Manchester have produced tiny liquid crystal devices with electrodes made from graphene – an exciting development that could lead to computer and TV displays based on this ...

Smaller is stronger -- now scientists know why

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Jan 02, 2008 | 4.6 / 5 (65) | 1

As structures made of metal get smaller -- as their dimensions approach the micrometer scale (millionths of a meter) or less -- they get stronger. Scientists discovered this phenomenon 50 years ago while measuring ...

Stretchable Silicon May Inspire a New Wave of Electronics

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Jun 13, 2007 | 4.4 / 5 (67) | 0

Scientists have created a form of nanoscale silicon that is stretchable. The new material may help pave the way for a class of stretchable electronic devices, such as “smart” surgical gloves and personal health ...

New Nanomaterial, 'NanoBuds,' Combines Fullerenes and Nanotubes

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Mar 30, 2007 | 4.4 / 5 (65) | 0

Researchers have created a hybrid carbon nanomaterial that merges single-walled carbon nanotubes and spherical carbon-atom cages called fullerenes. The new structures, dubbed NanoBuds because they resemble ...

Material may help autos turn heat into electricity

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Jul 24, 2008 | 4.4 / 5 (64) | 20

Researchers have invented a new material that will make cars even more efficient, by converting heat wasted through engine exhaust into electricity. In the current issue of the journal Science, they describe a material with t ...

Beetle spawns new material

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Jun 15, 2006 | 4.3 / 5 (63) | 0

The Namib Desert, one of the driest regions in the world, gets less than half an inch of rain per year. But early in the morning, a light fog drifts over the desert, offering the plants and animals living in ...

Air-purifying church windows early nanotechnology

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Aug 21, 2008 | 4.5 / 5 (58) | 5

Stained glass windows that are painted with gold purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight, a team of Queensland University of Technology experts have discovered.

New nanoscale engineering breakthrough points to hydrogen-powered vehicles

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

Mar 05, 2007 | 4.2 / 5 (61) | 0

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have developed an advanced concept in nanoscale catalyst engineering – a combination of experiments and simulations that will bring ...