http://www.physorg.com/nanotech-news/nano-materials/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on nanomaterials, nanotechnology, nanotech and nanoscience. The catalytic processes that facilitate the production of many chemicals and fuels could become much more environmentally friendly thanks to a breakthrough achieved by researchers from Lehigh and Rice Universities. http://www.physorg.com/news177006900.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:20:09 EST news177006900 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) -- Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have won a $6.5 million grant to develop improved components that will boost the efficiency of electric propulsion systems used to control the positions of satellites and planetary probes. http://www.physorg.com/news175365546.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:30:01 EST news175365546 (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) -- Silicon, the most important semiconductor material of all, is usually considered to be as brittle and breakable as window glass. On the nanometer scale, however, the substance exhibits very different properties, as Empa researchers from Switzerland have shown by creating minute silicon pillars. If the diameters of the columns are made small enough, then under load they do not simply break off, as large pieces of silicon would, but they yield to the pressure and undergo plastic deformation, as a metal would. This discovery opens the way for completely new design techniques from a materials point of view for mechanical microsystems and in the watch industry. http://www.physorg.com/news174765743.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:04:45 EST news174765743 (PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes hold promise for delivering medicine directly to a tumor; acting as sensors so keen they detect the arrival or departure of a single electron; replacing costly platinum in fuel cells; or as energy-saving transistors and wires, but building them with the right structure has been a challenge. http://www.physorg.com/news174752422.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:50:01 EST news174752422 A group of scientists are working on the optimisation of a type of photovoltaic cell (Grätzel cell) that artificially mimics photosynthesis. http://www.physorg.com/news174720044.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:40:01 EST news174720044 (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) -- A UT Dallas researcher envisions a time soon when plastic sheets of solar cells are inexpensively stamped out in factories and then affixed to cell phones, laptops and other power-hungry mobile devices. And a new $330,000 grant from the National Science Foundation should help him come closer to realizing that vision. http://www.physorg.com/news173969527.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:52:39 EST news173969527 (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