http://www.physorg.com/nanotech-news/nano-materials/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on nanomaterials, nanotechnology, nanotech and nanoscience. Johns Hopkins materials scientists have found a new use for a chemical compound that has traditionally been viewed as an electrical conductor, a substance that allows electricity to flow through it. By orienting the compound in a different way, the researchers have turned it into a thin film insulator, which instead blocks the flow of electricity, but can induce large electric currents elsewhere. The material, called solution-deposited beta-alumina, could have important applications in transistor technology and in devices such as electronic books. http://www.physorg.com/news176994899.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:19:47 EST news176994899 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Utah chemists demonstrated the first conclusive link between the size of catalyst particles on a solid surface, their electronic properties and their ability to speed chemical reactions. The study is a step toward the goal of designing cheaper, more efficient catalysts to increase energy production, reduce Earth-warming gases and manufacture a wide variety of goods from medicines to gasoline. http://www.physorg.com/news176373205.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:03 EST news176373205 Inside a cramped back room at Rushford Hypersonic, a start-up headquartered in southeastern Minnesota, sits a cube-like machine that throws a mean atomic fastball. At the push of a button, the reactor hurls atoms toward a substrate material at eight times faster than the speed of sound. http://www.physorg.com/news176637826.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:10:02 EST news176637826 (PhysOrg.com) -- Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power distribution and nanoelectronics. The result of a nine-year program, the method builds upon tried-and-true processes that chemical firms have used for decades to produce plastics. The research is available online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news176396559.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:04:34 EST news176396559 Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs. http://www.physorg.com/news176389079.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:59:21 EST news176389079 (PhysOrg.com) -- Just a few decades ago, scientists believed that all ordered matter consists of self-repeating building blocks -- atoms, ions or molecules. In this view, the ordinary solids of everyday life are arranged in crystals of repeating, three -- dimensional patterns. http://www.physorg.com/news176214864.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:34:52 EST news176214864 (PhysOrg.com) -- If the promise of nanotechnology is to be fulfilled, nanoparticles will have to be able to make something of themselves. An important advance towards this goal has been achieved by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who have found a simple and yet powerfully robust way to induce nanoparticles to assemble themselves into complex arrays. http://www.physorg.com/news175450958.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:23:20 EST news175450958 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists, chemists and engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a novel method for the controlled formation of patchy particles, using charged, self-assembling molecules that may one day serve as drug-delivery vehicles to combat disease and perhaps be used in small batteries that store and release charge. http://www.physorg.com/news175276626.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:57:56 EST news175276626 (PhysOrg.com) -- North Carolina State University engineers have created a new material that would allow a fingernail-size computer chip to store the equivalent of 20 high-definition DVDs or 250 million pages of text, far exceeding the storage capacities of today`s computer memory systems. http://www.physorg.com/news175252581.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:18:06 EST news175252581 Every hour, the sun floods Earth with more energy than the entire world consumes in a year. Yet solar power accounts for less than 0.002 percent of all electricity generated in the United States, primarily because photovoltaic cells remain expensive and relatively inefficient. http://www.physorg.com/news175195934.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:32:55 EST news175195934 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new alternative energy technology relies on the element most associated with climate change: carbon. http://www.physorg.com/news175182633.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:52:08 EST news175182633 A University of Michigan professor is developing an electric rocket thruster, NanoFET, that uses nanoparticle electric propulsion and enables spacecraft to travel faster and with less propellant than previous technology allowed. http://www.physorg.com/news175166748.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:40:02 EST news175166748 UCL researchers are helping to unlock the secrets of a material that could ultimately be used in a new generation of electronic devices. http://www.physorg.com/news174852159.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:10:01 EST news174852159 Fuel cells, devices that can produce electricity from hydrogen or other fuels without burning them, are considered a promising new way of powering everything from homes and cars to portable devices like cellphones and laptop computers. Their big advantage -- the prospect of eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants -- has been outweighed by their very high cost, and researchers have been trying to find ways to make the devices less expensive. http://www.physorg.com/news174822792.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:54:10 EST news174822792 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists have investigated the purest graphene to date, and have found that the material possesses unprecedented high electronic quality. The discovery has raised the bar for this relatively new material, and challenges scientists to find out just how perfect graphene can be. http://www.physorg.com/news174654627.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:11:02 EST news174654627 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to make graphene more useful in electronics applications, Kansas State University engineers made a golden discovery -- gold "snowflakes" on graphene. http://www.physorg.com/news174590038.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:15:28 EST news174590038 A team of researchers from the State University of Pennsylvania (USA) and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) have developed a technique to replicate biological structures, such as butterfly wings, on a nano scale. The resulting biomaterial could be used to make optically active structures, such as optical diffusers for solar panels. http://www.physorg.com/news174223049.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:18:55 EST news174223049 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminum" powder that is more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies. http://www.physorg.com/news174146628.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:04:23 EST news174146628 (PhysOrg.com) -- Wires with atomic dimensions are potential structural elements for future nanoscopic electronic components. Such fine wires have completely new electronic properties. However, apart from the non-trivial production of metallic nanowires, their high chemical reactivity is a critical problem; they are easily oxidized in air and are not stable. http://www.physorg.com/news174143119.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:05:56 EST news174143119 (PhysOrg.com) -- When we think of nanotubes, we often think of solar panels and physical science. However, it appears that nanotubes can also provide valuable help to plants as a fertilizer. Just add carbon nanotubes, say researchers at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, and you can get plants that grow faster and bigger than their counterparts. http://www.physorg.com/news174066714.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:52:18 EST news174066714 (PhysOrg.com) -- Small bits of metal may play a new role in solar power. Researchers at Ohio State University are experimenting with polymer semiconductors that absorb the sun`s energy and generate electricity. The goal: lighter, cheaper, and more-flexible solar cells. http://www.physorg.com/news173982923.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:36:49 EST news173982923 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have overcome a major obstacle in efforts to use tiny structures called carbon nanotubes to create a new class of electronics that would be faster and smaller than conventional silicon-based transistors. http://www.physorg.com/news173626785.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:40:28 EST news173626785 (PhysOrg.com) -- Propylene oxide is an important bulk chemical that is used primarily in the production of polyurethane plastics. Currently, propylene oxide is usually made from propylene (propene) in a process that uses chlorine as an oxidizing agent. This results in undesired byproducts as well as toxic chlorinated organic compounds. Existing alternative routes are mostly complicated and uneconomical. The development of an environmentally friendly propylene oxide synthesis with oxygen as the oxidizing agent is high on the wish list. http://www.physorg.com/news173602236.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:52:33 EST news173602236 Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting an advance toward overcoming one of the key challenges in nanotechnology: Getting molecules to move quickly in a desired direction without help from outside forces. Their achievement has broad implications, the scientists say, raising the possibility of coaxing cells to move and grow in specific directions to treat diseases. http://www.physorg.com/news173526797.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:53:53 EST news173526797 ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Brain implants that can more clearly record signals from surrounding neurons in rats have been created at the University of Michigan. The findings could eventually lead to more effective treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and paralysis. http://www.physorg.com/news173465029.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:44:47 EST news173465029 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers say they have found a simple way to improve the semiconducting properties of the world`s thinnest material - by giving it a good tug. http://www.physorg.com/news173340834.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:14:30 EST news173340834 (PhysOrg.com) -- Research at MIT has uncovered new information about how nanoscale patterns on the surface of a material can produce significant changes in the way it interacts with liquids. The discovery could be significant in understanding interactions that affect a wide variety of biological processes in living cells, as well as many manufacturing or energy storage systems. http://www.physorg.com/news173004362.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:20:01 EST news173004362 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have found that by replacing conventional graphite electrodes with silicon nanotube electrodes, lithium-ion batteries can store 10 times more charge. http://www.physorg.com/news172932021.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:10:01 EST news172932021 Imagine a gift wrapped in paper you really do treasure and want to carefully fold and save. That's because the wrapping paper lights up with words like "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Holidays," thanks to a built in battery -- an amazing battery made out of paper. That's one potential application of a new battery made of cellulose, the stuff of paper, being described in the October 14 issue of ACS' Nano Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news172932619.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:50:50 EST news172932619 (PhysOrg.com) -- Biomedical researchers suspect graphene, a novel nanomaterial made of sheets of single carbon atoms, would be useful in a variety of applications. But no one had studied the interaction between graphene and DNA, the building block of all living things. To learn more, PNNL's Zhiwen Tang, Yuehe Lin and colleagues from both PNNL and Princeton University built nanostructures of graphene and DNA. http://www.physorg.com/news172896200.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:43:56 EST news172896200