IIT Develops Biosensor for Detecting Heart Disease
May 8th, 2008Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai is one of the premieres educational and research Institute in India and recently The Centre for Excellence of Nanoelectronics of it has developed low cost biosensor. This low cost biosensor is named as ‘iSens’ and it detects heart attack well in advance.
Dr. V. Ramgopal Rao, head of multidisciplinary project and Chief, Nanoelectronics Department of IIT Mumbai has a plan to offer this product for clinical trial in India and Abroad. As it is a diagnostic device only, the clinical trial will not take more time.
The department has already discussing with a company in UK for commercialization of the technology. As it is aimed to keep the cost of the device low so that it can reach to the primary health centers across the India, as more than 90 percent of the heart patients do not reach big hospitals. The new diagnostic device will be a boon to the many poor heart patients in India.
Nanotechnology in Cleaning Water
May 5th, 2008The quality of drinking water is a major problem across the globe and especially in the developing countries. Researchers at Ian Wark Research Institute, University of South Australia have used nanotechnology for removing toxic chemicals, viruses and bacteria from potable water.
Peter Majewski and Chiu Ping Chan have used tiny particles of silica coated with active material for removing hazardous materials including toxic chemicals from water more effectively and efficiently than the conventional purification method. The research finding has been published in the International Journal of Nanotechnology.
Researchers used self-assembly process for coating a nanometer thin layer of hydrocarbon based active material having silicon containing anchor on silica particles and these active particles also known as Surfaced Engineered Silica (SES) were later studied for their efficiency to remove pathogens from drinking water. The results indicate that after stirring the active coated particles in the contaminated water for one hour and filtering the powder, the organic species were completely removed.
New Research Grant for Heat Transfer Study
May 2nd, 2008Heat is evolved whenever an electronic or electrical device is used and managing heat is still a tough challenge before all of the users. Now Air Force has assigned a task to the team of researchers led by University of Michigan engineer who will receive a grant of $ 6.8 million for finding the solution for the next five year.
The team leader Kevin Pipe is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and his research group includes nine scientists and engineers from three different universities including University of California and Brown University.
Management of heat flow is critically important to deliver performance and reliability and inefficient heat flow is a major roadblock for the development of high power electronic devices including lasers and transistors. If heat flow is properly blocked, it can dramatically improve the efficiency of the electronic devices.
The other renowned members of the Air Force Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) program includes professors Robero Merlin and Humphrey Maris, engineering professor Arto Nurmikko, material science and engineering professors Rachel Goldman and John Kieffer and electrical engineering associate professor Ali Shakouri.
New Nanotube show different mechanical properties
April 29th, 2008A group of researchers from US along with the experts from Brazil have discovered that carbon nanotube sheets can have different mechanical properties if stretched or uniformly compressed. These useful mechanical properties can be beneficial for various applications as making artificial muscles, sensors, composites and gaskets.
In general materials if pulled in one direction contract laterally or get thinner, however specially designed carbon nanotube sheets behave differently. These nanotube sheets or buckypaper can increase in width on stretching and can also increase in length and width once uniformly compressed.
Dr. Ray H. Baughman and his team of researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have created nanotube sheets by drying fiber slurry having mixtures of single-walled (SWNTs) and multi-walled (MWNTs) carbon nanotubes. Researchers claimed that by increasing multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the Poisson’s Ratio turns from a positive value of 0.06 to negative value of 0.20. Poisson’s Ratio is defined as the ratio of percent lateral contraction to the applied stretch.
Researchers found that the sharp transition in Poisson’s Ratio surprising and subsequently found that nanotubes containing SWNTs and MWNTs have 1.6 times higher stretch to weight ratio, 2.4 percent higher toughness and 1.4 times higher modulus to weight ratio than the sheets containing SWNTs or MWNTs alone. The research paper is recently published in Journal Science of April 25 issue.
Nanotechnology helps in improving Storage Capacity
April 27th, 2008Researchers at the University of Glasgow have developed a new technology based molecular-size switch that can increase dramatically the data storage capacity of iPod’s without increasing the size of the storage devices. Professor Lee Cronin and Dr. Malcolm Kadodwala have tried to increase the conventional storage of 3.3 gigabytes per square inch to a new high of 500, 000 gigabytes.
This is really a breakthrough by the leading scientists and if successfully implemented the number of transistors per chip could be well over one billion from the current limit of 200 million.
Researchers assembled a functional nanocluster in which two electron donating group are kept exactly 0.32 nm apart. This especial type of arrangement produces a new molecule-based switch that can be made functional using an electric field.
Researchers further took these nanoscake clusters and placed these onto a gold or carbon to control the switching ability. Grafting the nanostructures on gold or carbon will further bridge the gap between the conventional transistor and advanced components required for nanoscale plastic electronics.
Nano-Needles : Future LED’s and LED Laser
April 24th, 2008Silicon is the preferred choice for making semiconductors, however it has a disadvantage that it can not be used especially where light signals are also required alongwith electronic signals. In opto-electronics, gallium-arsenide (Ga As) is the preferred choice as it emits light and used for making light emitting diodes (LED’s) and light emitting diode (LED) lasers.
First time in a lab a gallium-arsenide (Ga As) defect free nanostructure has been fabricated, which will further used for creating lasers. Researchers at the University of California, Berkley have grown these gallium-arsenide narrow needle shape structures of 3 to 4 micron long. Once electrically pumped, these needles will emit light with high brightness.
Michael Moewe and his team expects that these needles will not only find their use in optoelectronic devices such as LED and LED lasers but will also be used in other applications including atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman Spectroscop. The reseach finding will be presented at Lasers and Electro Optics/Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO/QELS) during May 4-9, 2008 at San Jose McEnergy Convention Centre in San Jose California.
Multifunctional Nanoparticles in Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Cells
April 21st, 2008A team of reseachers at the Multifunctional Nanoparticles in Diagnosis and Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer Platform Partnership have used quantum dots for diagnosis and investigation of Pancreatic Cancer cells. Research finding has been published in the Journal Advanced materials, where the team has claimed that they have produced two types of quantum dots, one emitted orange light and the other emitted red light.
Researchers attached red quantum rod and orange quantum rod to monoclonal antibodies that recognized mesothelin and binds Claudin - 4 proteins respectively. After adding these conjugated quantum rods to the pancreatic cells, growing in culture, investigators used standard fluorescence microscopy for spotting the optical levels of both the protein cells. The finding showed that the cell used receptor-mediated endocytosis process to took quantum rods and only cell uptake was specific to those targeted by quantum rod conjugated antibodies.
The research team was headed by Paras Prasad of the State University of New York. The work was supported by NCI’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer.
Magnetic Nanoparticles produced from Bacteria
April 19th, 2008A team of interdisciplinary group of researchers including microbiologists, material chemists, material scientists and physicists, biochemists and chemical engineers from the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University was formed to study and synthesize magnetic nanoparticles from bacteria. The magnetic nanoparticles produced from bacteria could be used for various applications including drug targeting and delivery, magnetic seal or in magnetic ink.
Researchers have identified a few strain of bacteria that are able to produce magnetite (iron oxide). These particles have magnetic properties. These bacteria uses a protein to form nanoparticle of about 50 nm size and these crystalline nanoparticles bound together with the help of a membrane. Bacteria uses these nanoparticles as compass to align themselves with earth magnetic field.
This project is being funded by various government agencies including the Department of Energy and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundations. The research finding has been published in many journals including ACS Nano, Physical Review B and Advanced Functional Materials.
New Awards for Outstanding Work in Nanoscience
April 15th, 2008Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has introduced the new Kavli Prize for outstanding achievement in the area of nanosciene and it will be announced next month. Kavli prize will also be given for outstanding achievements in the areas of neuroscience and astrophysics and the announcement will be made on 28 May 2008 at the opening of World Science Week at Columbia University, New York, USA.
Kavli Prize will be awarded every two years by Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Norwegian ministries for education and research and foreign affairs. There is a cash prize of $ 1 million, which is comparable to the cash prize given to the Nobel Prize winners.
Kavli Prize in Nanoscience area will be awarded for outstanding achievement in the areas of nanoscience or its applications including nanobiotechnology, nanomaterials, molecular self-assembly, nanoscale instrumentation, molecular mechanics and other similar applications.
The Academy has already appointed three prize committees for selecting finalists in the areas of nanoscience, neuroscience and astrophysics. The committee members are experts in their field and at least one member in each committee is a Nobel Prize winner. The members are meeting in Berlin, New York and Washington to decide the winner and Norwegian Crown Prince Haaken will handover the Prize to the winners in September later this year.
Use of Nanoparticles in Food Safety
April 12th, 2008Researchers are working towards the possible use of nanoparticles for food safety. Byron Brehem-Stecher, an assistant professor in food science and human nutrition is working towards the possible use of silver nanoparticles for improving the safety of food supply. Although nanoparticles can not be used as food ingredients, however these can be used for developing food related applications.
The immediate possible food related applications seems to be microbe - resistant fabrics and non - biofouling surfaces. According to Byran brehem - techer, the study will lead to understand the affect of silver nanoparticle on microbial structure of the material. The study will also enhance the understanding abilities of silver nanoparticles to interact with microbial cells.
Byron Brehem - Stecher prepared silver nanoparticles by vaporizing metallic silver in presence of an inert gas and thereafter controlled condensing the particles in such a way to get the nanoparticles below 100 nm size. Brehem - Stecher claims that the study although is at primary stage, some very interesting clues has already been discovered about the nanosilver as an antimicrobial.
Use of Nanotechnology for Data Storage
April 10th, 2008Scientists at University of Copenhagen discovered a new technique for data storage. Jonas Hauptmann, Jens Paaske and Poul Erik Lindelof used electricity and magnetism together for developing new transistor. Researchers has used single electron spin as a magnet and obtained electrical control.
The team of researchers has used carbon nanotube as transistor. The carbon nanotbes was placed between magnetic electrode and the researchers found that the direction of a single electron spin can be controlled by applying an electric potential. The single electron spin on a nanotube can therefore act as an artificial atom.
Jens Paaske, professor at Nano-Science Centre and the Niels Bohr Institute has analyzed the data. He found that this concept is totally new and new transistor will function as magnetic memory.
Nanotechnology in cancer treatment
April 7th, 2008Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis used nanotechnology for delivering drug directly to tumors. Researchers used drug coated nanoparticles and found that a drug dose 1000 times lower is effective in slowing down tumor growth in rabbits. The reduced dosage of drugs will definitely benefit millions of cancer pateints as many of the chemotherapeutic drugs have unwanted side effects.
Researchers published their finding in The FASEB online journal and claimed that significant reduction in tumor growth in rabbit was noticed after treating with fumagillin. Fumagillin in combination with other anticancer drug is affective in reducing tumor growth. Fumagillin released to the cells of growing blood vessels and it quickly blocks multiplication of blood vessel cells and it slows down tumor growth by cutting the blood supply to cancer cells.
Fumagillin can have neurotoxic side effects in humans and also high doses of fumagillin is required if given by conventional standard methods. A low concentration of fumagillin nanoparticles is found effective and at the same time fumagillin nanoparticles shown no adverse neurotoxic side effects in rabbits.
Five Technology Forces Driving the Future
April 3rd, 2008Recently a seminar on “Five Technology Forces Driving the Future” was sponsored by Chapman, Inc. This is first seminar planned for 2008 of CIO symposium series. The other two seminars are planned for the later half of the year.
Key issues were discussed during the symposium and some of the participants expressed that the symposium fulfilled the needs of many new technology areas and many new advances in the core sectors were also discussed during symposium. Experts from various fields such as Nanotechnology, Infotech, Biotech, Robotics and Ecotech were invited for talks during the symposium.
Dr. John Randall, vice president of Zyvax Labs talked about the possibilities and probabilities in nanotechnology areas. There are many day to dat items containing parts measured in nanoscale. He also focussed on the furture possible applications of nanotechnology in core areas including energy, medicine etc.
Application of Gold Nanoparticles in Medical Field
March 31st, 2008Researchers have recently used gold nanoparticles for identifying different classes of bacteria. At present for the identification of different classes of bacteria, expensive equipments are required. Further identification also requires lots of time as plating and culture is done on samples. This new technique of identification of different bacteria classes will be beneficial in medical diagnosis.
Researchers associated a negatively charged conjugated polymer with positively charged chemical on the surface of gold nanoparticle and used fluorescence for bacteria identification. The fluorescent negatively charged conjugated polymer if associated with the gold nanoparticle would behave different fluorescent pattern. The negatively charged particle can dissociate the conjugated polymer and once the polymer is dissociated it will show the original fluorescent pattern. Different bacteria classes will behave differently towards conjugated polymers and therefore it is possible to identify the classes of bacteria.
Researchers exposed the gold nanoparticles to buffered solution of bacteria for 15 minutes and then the fluorescent intensities were plotted for 12 different bacteria classes. Using a statistical tool, researchers were able to identify and differentiate all the twelve bacteria species.
Use of carbon nanotubes in fuel cells
March 29th, 2008Recently scientists of Max Plank for Solid State Research and the University of Darmstadt of Germany created a new fuel-cell. The new fuel cell consists of single walled carbon nanotubes and it functions at par with the conventional fuel cells, however it is much lighter than the conventional fuel cell. This will therefore enhance the use of lightweight power supplies.
The conventional lightweight fuel cells are used in various portable applications including notebook computers, camera, cell phones and therefore using the new technology will further improve the light weight requirements for these applications. In general carbon in amorphous form is used in conventional fuel cell as it has good porosity and at the same time have large surface area.
A large number of single walled carbon nanotubes will also behave similarly however these will be light weight and sometimes these are ten times thinner and lighter than the conventional fuel cell electrodes. Thin shape of these carbon nanotubes have additional advantage of higher conductivity and sometimes conductivity might be ten thousand times of the conventional electrode.
Although the effeciency of the new carbon nanotube based fuel cell is expected to be quite high, however the researchers observed that it is comparable to the conventional amorphous carbon type fuel cell and one main reason for the lower performance seems to be the preparation of catalysts and researchers are tryng to optimize it.
Use of nanowires for LED’s
March 27th, 2008Conventional LEDs consists of multiple crystalline semiconductors and these LED’s are used in small applications including torches, bicycle lights and lamps. When light is passed through LEDs , one-third of the electrical energy is converted into light. These conventional light emitting devices are still not used for large applications due to the defects in crystal structure.
Even the comercial LEDs used for various applications might have millions of defects per square centimeter. Researchers at Sweden based Lund University are working on nanotechnology based LED’s and are hopeful that such defects free LEDs will be available in the market within few years.
Researchers have presented their finding at recently held International Conference on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Melbourne. Scientists beleive that millions of nanowires of 2 micrometer length and 200 nanometer diameter grown from gallium arsenide and indium gallium will be perfect for producing LEDs.
Use of carbon nanotubes in conductors
March 24th, 2008At present copper nanowires are being assumed as the best transistors, however researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that carbon nanotube interconnects are the choice for next generation transistors.
Researchers in a typical study took the help of quantum mechanics. Researchers carried out advance quantum-mechanical computer modelling on a supercomputer to run vast simulations and compared the outcomes of carbon nanotubes and copper nanowires.
After carrying out the study for months at Rensellaer Computational Centre for Nanotechnology Innovations, researchers found that the carbon nanotubes show much smaller resistance in comparison to copper nanowires. This study show that carbon nantubes will be better suited for interconnects applications.
Saroj Nayak, an associate professor at Rensselaer’s Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy and his team beleives that carbon nanotubes at 45 nanometer will outperform copper nanowires.
Nanoscale silica behaves as ductile as gold
March 21st, 2008Silica is brittle at bulk, however researchers have discovered that at nanoscale silica behaves quite differently. Researchers at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) at the University of Maryland-College Park have found that nanoscale silica exhibit ductile behavior.
Pradeep Namboodri and his team found that silica behaves differently in macro and micro state. In brittle substances, a material’s break point depends on its ability to sustain the stress or load applied on it, however in ductile substances the atom shuffle around and may remain intact for much more time and the material’s break down depends upon the structural flaws in it.
Researchers found that in nanoscale, the structural flaws don’t exist and therefore the materials are almost perfect. As the atoms in nanoscale generally reside on the surface and these atoms are not bounded and therefore the properties of these atoms dominate. Scientists at NIST using an atomic force microscope (AFM) found that the silica will exhibit properties similar to gold or silver in nanoscale.
Gold nanoparticles fabricated using new ecofreindly process
March 17th, 2008Presently nanoparticles are being produced using various man made chemicals and some of the chemicals are toxic to humans and at the same time have potential to damage environment. Dr Kattesh Katti, Scientist at University of Missouri has recently come up with a new method to fabricate gold nanoparticles using gold salt, water and soybeans.
As the new technique do not require any synthetic chemicals, this environmental friendly technique has opened new dimensions for fabricating various nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles are being explored for various applications throughout the world including detection and treatment of cancer, for electronic devices, for treatment of certain eye diseases and for the development of green automobiles.
Dr. Kattesh Katti, professor of radiology and physics in the scool of medicine and college of arts and science at Missouri University claims that the process only uses naturally available materials and this new discovery will have far reaching impacts in nanomedicine. Professor Katti has already done a lot of works in the areas of medicine at MU and his new discovery will benefit thousands of cancer patients across the globe.
Nanopore that can separate small molecules developed
March 13th, 2008Thayumanvan and his students at UMass Amherest, Department of Chemistry have developed a method for fabricating special nanopores that can separate small molecules including proteins. Researchers selected a membrane containing nanopore and immersed it in a tin solution. Tin ions have positive charge and therefore these positive ions attached to the inner side of the nanopores.
Upon filtering a negatively charged polymer solutions through the nanopore mambrane, these positive charged tin ions attract negatively charged molecules and these molecules further react with the desired molecules within the limited space inside nanopores. The advantage of this method over conventional method is that in this method you can control nanopore size as well as it is less time consuming and you get uniform layer inside nanopores.
These nanopores can find applications in many diverse areas including fuel cell membrane, DNA sequencing and other diagnostic medical tests. These nanopores are also suitable for sensor applications, as even a single charged molecule inside nanopore can produce measurable electric current. Researchers carried out experiments with different type of polymers and have created nanopores of various sizes and observed that molecules based on their sizes can efficiently separated through these nanopores.
Nanoscale tool capable to study single membrane protein
March 9th, 2008Scientists at Rockefellor’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry have developed a new nanoscale tool that can allow scientists to study exactly a single protein on a cell having thousands of other proteins. The scientists have created a tiny tool that is 10,000 times smaller than a human hair and resembles like sushi roll.
professor Thomas Sarkar, head of the laboratory and his team has developed the Nanoscale Apolipoprotein Bound Bilayers (NABBs). The team claimed that with this new tool it is possible to control the receptor’s membrane environment and at the same time it is also possible to find its interaction with ligands, other protein or receptors.
The research team looked for the functions of individual G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). These are the transmembrane proteins involved in many diseases. The team used Apo A-1 from zebrafish (known as zap 1) and devised a method that helps in self assembling of these disc like nanoparticles by combining zap 1, lipids and extracted cellular membrane proteins. Researchers beleive that the tool can be beneficial for screening many new drugs.
Possible use of nanofluids for digital display
March 7th, 2008Borca-Tasciuc, a professor of mechanical engineering and his team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have carried out experiments on nanofluids and observed that these fluids show enhanced performance when exposed to electrical fields. This could lead to various new types of microscale fluidic devices including cell phone displays and digital display devices.
In various applications such as lab-on-chip analysis systems, optical device and digital device systems, a small volume of liquid having characteristics properties is required. Although many experiments were earlier conducted with reular fluids, fluids containing nanoparticles are being tried first time.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnc Institute have used bismuth telluride nanoparticles for present study. Droplets containing these nanoparticles in water based solutions were placed onto a teflon-coated silicon wafer. As soon as the electric field was applied to the droplets, a strong change in contact angle of droplets with wafer was noticed.
Researchers carried out similar experiments with liquids waithout nanoparticles and noticed a less contact angle change. This ability to change contact angle in naoparticles will enhance potential applications especially for moving liquids in microsystems or cooling computer chips.
European Union to spend 3 bn Euro on Nanotechnology
March 4th, 2008The European Commission is looking forward for applications of lab scale nanotechnology and have ambitious plan to spend 3 bn euro on nanoelectronics research and 2.5 bn euro on embedded computer systems during next 10 years. The commission expects that both these programmes will improve a number of consumer and industrial products.
The joint technology initiatives by the ENIAC and ARTEMIS are aimed to bring private and public stakeholders together to develop new and advance nanotechnologies. Nanoelectronics and embedded computer systems are two new advance areas and are already playing key roles in many devices.
Mobiles and credit cards devices are already based on embedded special purpose computer systems and international market for such systems is over 60 bn euro with a predicted growth rate of over 14 percent. Further miniaturisation can enhance day to day life such as computer controlled vehicle engines that can reduce carbon emissions.
Application of nanotechnology in rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing
March 1st, 2008Nanotechnology based applications are growing rapidly. It is being tried for various applications including a range of consumer products from sporting goods to sunscreen cosmetic products. It has now been found that it can be used in the field of rapid prototyping also.
Nanotechnology based products not only offer advantages over conventional products but these products also improves the performance of the material that is used for rapid prototyping or rapid manufacturing. These nanotechnology based products can dramatically alter the properties of finished products.
A few protocomposite materials are already available in the market. These products when cured becomes a ceramic like materials. These composite materials are generally filled with non-crystalline nanoparticles and the properties of the finished productsimproved significantly.
Nanotechnology for producing clean technologies
February 12th, 2008A number of technologies are being used for producing and manufacturing number of items across the globe. Billions of amount being spent on using latest technologies for making them more environmental friendly. Lots of efforts are being taken for making zero pollution industries.
Nanotechnology has so far achieved many solutions but it is still unable to produce a few pollution free products. The scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has recently come up with a new clean technology.
Scientists has come up with a scientifically elegant way to produce ethylene. Ceramist Balu Balachandran and his research team has devised a high temperature membrane through which ethylene can be produced directly from ethane. This new membrane removes hydrogen from ethane and the technology is absolutely pollution free.
Nanomaterials as catalysts for fuel cells
February 9th, 2008Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have carried out research on nanomaterials including gold, oxygen, titanium and cerium for the possible use of next generation catalysts for fuel cells. Fuel cells are new generation energy sources where hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water and energy.
Fuel cells are becoming attractive source of producing energy due to their higher energy effeciency and zero emission. he major challenge for scientists is to reduce the carbon monooxide in hydrogen, which is formed during production ofhydrogen. Carbon monooxide acts as poison to expensive catalysts used in fuel cells.
Water-gas shift (WGS) reactions important for obtaining pure hydrogen as these reactions can convert carbon monooxide to carbon dioxide. Carbon monooxide reacts with water to form hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory have used different combinations of nanomaterials as WGS catalysts. Researchers have found that gold-cerium oxide and gold-titanium oxide are the best catalysts and these are better than the conventional cerium and titanium catalysts.
Impact of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on electrical properties of polymers
February 7th, 2008Scientists at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have carried out a study on carbon nanotubes/polypropylene composits and found that the electrical properties of the composite can be changed dramatically.
Scientists have found that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can act as an additive for polymers and a relatively low concentration of it can change the electrical conductivity of the polymer. The technique will be useful in many applications including antennas, aircraft components, electrical packaging, sensors, anti-static hoses and automotive paints.
Researchers at NIST found that electrical properties of conductor depend on composite flow and once the flow is removed, the nanoscale material revers back to its original conductivity. The researchers has proposed a mathematical model for predicting the electrical conductivity behavior of the composite under theoritical conditions.
Semiconductor Nanocrystals
February 5th, 2008The control in the chemical surface in any of the nanocrystalline structure depends on the fabrication device of the semiconductor nanocrystal. It has always been a desire to fabricate a nanomaterial that has a derivatized surface, however there are a few issues such as the chemical reactivity between the nanocrystal and another organic or inorganic group or the assembling methods to fabricate derivatized nanocrystal.
We have to find a suitable solution for above issues so that the functioning and integrity of semiconductor nanocrystals do not get disturbed. We can find out suitable inorganic, organic or mixture of organic and inorganic layer to get a derivatized surface so that the physical and chemical properties of semiconductor nanocrystals are enhanced. Various studies have been carried out using a number of surface passivators.
Researchers have established that the near band edge photoluminescence of the semiconductor can be enhanced by passivating the semiconductor with suitable chemicals.
New lengthy nanofibers developed
February 5th, 2008Min-Feng Yu, a mechanical science and engineering professor at the University of Illinois and graduate students Abhijit Suryavanshi and Jie Hu developed a three diamensional lengthy nanofiber. The research paper has been accepted for publication in the Journal Advanced Materials.
According to the researchers the process is similar to a drawing with a fountain pen. As soon as the ink come out of the fountain pen it solidifies and in a similar approach, the researcher developed three diamensional nanofibers. A micropipette of 100 nanometer aperture was connected to the reservoir and as soon as the micropipette was brought close to the substrate, a small amount of ink will rise in the micropipette.
After removing the micropipette, the solvent quickly evaporates out and thus allowing solute to nucleate and precipitate to form a lengthy nanofiber. For drawing lengthy nanofiber, researchers used a precision spinning process and they were able to create a nanofiber of approximately 850 nanometer in diameter and 40 centimeter long.
Electronic properties of Carbon Nanotubes
February 4th, 2008Carbon nanotubes were first produced in the year 1991 and since then various studies has been carried out on these carbon nanotubes. These carbon nanotubes find promising applications in the area of molecular electronics. These now are explored as the building blocks in the fabrication of electronic devices.
The carbon nanotube have especially a molecular level arrangement making these suitable to develop best alternative of silicone based IC at the nanometer scale. These carbon nanotubes are known for the stiffness making these suitable for electronic applications.
In single wall carbon nanotubes at low temperature, the electronic waves may remain extended along the nanotube over several microns. This shows that the motion of electron is quantum mechanical in nature.
Scientists look for the methods of designing nanotechnology devices to tailor the molecular structures to achieve given functionality. Scientists have already explored construction of some of the electronic devices such as diodes, logic circuits, memory elements and transistors.
Possible use of carbon nanotube for storing hydrogen
February 4th, 2008Hydrogen is one of the modern fuel and it can be produced from water and it is used as fuel cells for generating electricity or running vehicles. One of the major challenge for fuel cell is the storage device. A number of research activities are going on for finding carbon nanotube for storing and transporting hydrogen gas.
At present hydrogen is stored in absorbed form and it is released at an appropriate rate as and when it is required. There has been considerable research and Dillon and his teams claimed that single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) can successfully store hydrogen. Scientists proposed that hydrogen in carbon nanotube is stored by physisorption and chemisorption.
Recent study suggest that the Density Function Theory (DFT) estimates a potential up to 7.5% wt. hydrogen storage capacity in single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), which is much higher than the 6% wt. of hydrogen in hydrogen storage capacity to be considered for economical and technical implementation as recommended by DOE.
100 Crore grant to Calcutta University
February 4th, 2008Calcutta University has come up with a Centre of Nanotechnology, which will carry out research activities in various advance areas of Nanotechnology. The finance ministry, government of India has already sanctioned 100 crore fund for this centre and out of this 10 crore has already been spent so far.
Recently a 14-member parliamentary committee on human resource and development visited the center. The university officials appraised the activities of the Centre of Nanotechnology. University officials also presented a detailed phase wise investment of the fund.
Meinya Thockam headed the team consisting of six University Grant Commission (UGC) and Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) officials. The team was satisfied with the progress of the project and will submit its recommendation to the central government.
Future sales of nanoparticles in Russia
February 4th, 2008The Russian government has an ambitious plan to achieve sales of around 900 rubles in the country’s fast growing nanotechnology sector by the year 2015. The last year’s sale in this sector was only 7 million rubles.
At present, Russia is conducting various research activities in nanotechnology sector and is willing to commercialize various equipments and materials. The major portion of the sales is expected to come through materials and equipments.
High ambitious plan of achieving 130 fold sales in this fast growing sector will benefit many organizations working in this area. The government has also a plan to commercialize the various technologies so far available only at pilot scale.
Concerns for nanoparticles being used in cosmetics
February 4th, 2008Cosmetic and beauty products are widely used for making look and appearance better. These products especially skincare products contains lots of ingredient and the latest concern about these products is that these contains man made nanoparticles.
Nanoparticles are so tiny that there is a possibility of absorbing these particles deep into the skin. Recently Soil Association has decided to ban these products. After ban, no products containing nanoparticles will be certified for skincare or cosmetic application. Even the ban will put a hold on certification of certain other clothing and food products containing nanoparticles.
With the high beneficial research in the area of nanotechnology, there is high concern about the health hazard associated with the nanoparticles as these can permeate cell membrane in humans. Many multinationals are now using these nanoparticles in their skincare formulations and that too without having any level to warn consumers.
Nanoparticles in Catalysis
January 7th, 2008Catalysts are basically nanoparticles and these nanoparticles varying in sizes between 1 to 20 nm are composed of clusters of atoms. During the application, these nanoparticles restructure and thereby these improve the surface mobility. There are two types of nanocluster catalysts.
Enzymes are the natural catalysts. In most of the cases, these enzymes are composed of inorganic nanoclusters. High molecular weight proteins mostly surround these inorganic nanoclusters and these enzymes usually work in aqueous medium. These enzymes in human and plants are responsible for overall growth.
The next and most important type of catalyst is synthetic catalyst. Synthetic catalysts can also be of two types homogeneous and heterogeneous and these are often metal nanoclusters. heterogeneous systems generally operate at high temperature and sometimes upto 1000K. In heterogeneous system, the reactant and product flow in gas phase enabling to remove the product molecule from the catalyst bed.
Nanotechnlogy based tinniest refrigerator
January 4th, 2008Researchers in a Finnish- Italian team (Helsinki University of Technology, Finland and Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy) have observed that the electron can carry away heat. They have built a small device where they found that heat is dissipated and therefore the device can act as a tinniest refrigerator.
Researchers from Helsinki University of Finland and Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy have fabricated a tiny transistor similar to a transistor used in an IC. Here super conducting electrodes although are similar to those used in a conventional transistor, however these electrodes are electrically insulated.
Researchers call this transistor a single electron refrigerator where the super conducting electrodes are connected to a 2mm long and 1/2 mm wide copper slab.
Another team of researchers from Singapore have also observed that heat can also carry information similar as electrons do in computers.
Nanofiber Filters
January 1st, 2008A new type of oil filter technology is being used for filtering oil in full flow as well as bypass units. The nanofibers ranging from size 0.2 to 1.0 micron are being used for the above purposes.
In this new technology fibres are layered on top of each one and appears similar to spider web. These nanofibres are much more effective than the conventional cellolosic fibres as these are much more consistent in size as well as shape.
One of the technique available for manufacturing these nanofibres is by drawing polymer solution through a tip of capillary. The nanofibres are collected in a collector where these fibres get dried and can be collected on a web. A range of nanofibres can be prepared through this technique.
New Branch of Nanoscience
December 29th, 2007Nanobioelectronics, a new interdisciplinary science is rapidly growing. The new developing discipline provides opportunities of research by combining nanoelectronics and molecular biology. The new discipline provides the study of charge transports in biological molecules.
Various researchers have already developed some approaches to nanobioelectronics such as DNA based nanocables, storage devices, electronic sensors and logical components. The other applications include the use of biomolecules for building molecular structures of nanosize are being explored.
The main advantages of biomolecules such as RNA (ribonucleic acid), DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), proteins and biomembranes is that these structures are comparable with sizes of nanotubes, nanoparticles etc.
If scientists are able to successfully combine biomaterials with semiconducting particles, metal particles or carbon nanotubes, a new class of material will be obtained. These new bioelectronics devices can then be used for various applications including hybrid biosensors, nanoelectronic circuits, nanoengines, nanotransporters etc.
New Federal Funding for ONAMI
December 26th, 2007The Oregon Nanoscience and Technologies Institute is based at Hewlett-Packard campus in Corvallis, has got fund recently. Congress has granted more tan $7 million for funding ongoing projects.
The current grant is $5 million more than the grant previously received by the Nanoscience group. Actually the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute previously received only $1.9 million in direct funding, although the collaborative grouphas received $37 million fund since 2003 including current grant.
The fund will be utilized for research in various areas including safer nanomaterials, nano manufacturing, miniature tactical energy system and measuring devices. According to the resources at the Oregon and Microtechnologies Institute, some of the research at ONAMI is useful for Defence applications.
Nanoyarn Protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease
December 23rd, 2007In Alzheimer’s disease the amyloid protein molecule clumps together and form deposits or plaques. These deposits or plaques are insoluble filament and these damages nerve cells and thus interrupts brain network. One person in 20 of those above 65 years is effected by lost memories due to Alzheimer’s disease.
Recently a research team from Cambridge University have found out the reason of forming such insoluble clumps and have observed similar phenomenon in diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
As the protein linked with Alzheimer’s disease is very strong and stable, researchers were inspired to design the new nanoyarn that could be used for various applications such as bullet proof vests, medical sutures, parachutes and super strong nets.
Nanotechnology $1 trillion market by 2015
December 20th, 2007Bangalore Nano 2007 was recently held at Bangalore and it provided the opportunity to discuss the various aspects of the nanotechnology. According to Sir Keith O. Nions, Director General Science & Innovation, Dept. for Innovation, University of Skills in UK, the nanotechnology will have a global market of $1 trillion by the year 2015.
Industries such as automotive, steel, textile, energy, health, food, IT, paints, defence etc will provide enormous opportunities for commercialization of nanomaterials. Worldwide governments are now establishing new centres for commercializing new technologies.
In UK, government is funding more than 100 million pounds per annum for research on nanotechnology and government has open up 23 new centres for commercialization of the new technology produced by more than 1300 nanotechnology companies. UK has recently set up ISO technical committee of Nanotechnology.
Health Hazard of Engineered Nanoparticles
December 17th, 2007Health Hazard associated with engineered nanoparticles is the major concern and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NIOSH, CDC) is preparing interim guidance on medical screening of workers. It will examine workers who have potentialy been exposed to engineered nanoparticles.
The document will provide a guideline and will be based on scientific evidence of nanoparticle exposure and will include various medical screening programs. The document will also ensure the identification as well as prevention of exposure of potential hazards.
NIOSH Docket office has invited comments and suggestions from general public. A public meeting comprising scientists, government representatives, people from industry and other stakeholders will take place on 30th January, 2008 st the Robert A. Taft Laboratory in Cincinnati, Ohio.
General comments from the public are being accepted from 14th December 2007 and will continue to accept till 15th February 2008. The meeting will address all concerns about workers whether there is a potential benefit or there is increased risk especially adverse health effects. It will also address a suitable and appropriate medical screening tests for these workers.
A Joint venture for nanotechnology commercialization
December 15th, 2007Recently California Nanosystems Institute (NSI) and Nanopacific Holdings Inc. announces a partnership for commercializing nanotechnology. The new partnership will enhance commercialization of specific mechanized nanoparticle based technology that could benefit millions of cancer sufferers. The new joint venture will also provide fund for further research to be carried out at Nano Machine Centre and will also broaden the areas of research.
The new joint venture will establish the safe delivery of approved and established chemotherapeutic agents to cancer cells and that too in the reduced dosage through mechanized nanoparticles. These mechanized nanoparticles can easily identify cancer cells while leaving behind the pure healthy cells and will enablethe delivery of drugs at the desired sites only.
These nanoparticles are porous in nature and therefore these are not only capable to store but the drug can also selectively released. Actually the process of taking and releasing of drug is controlled through a nanoscale gate and thus the mechanized nanoparticle based technology is affective in controlling cancer.
Gold nanoparticles used for improving computer memory
December 11th, 2007Researchers from Taiwan presented the details of their finding about the use of gold nanoparticles for improving computer memory at IEEE 2007, International Electron device Meeting at Washington DC recently. According to the researcher’s the new device is simple and durable and it is made up of mixture of plastic and gold nanoparticles.
This non-volatile array also called as organic nonvolatile bistable memory is a 16-byte device and is inexpensive also. The device was jointly developed by the researchers from the quasi governmental Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and National Chung Hsing University (NCHO).
Organic nonvolatile memories are the devices made from the substances that can be manufactured cheaply. Most of the researchers carry out developmental work on plastic and carbon based other chemicals that can be produced by printing processes but the main disadvantages of these organic memory devices is that these can be easily breakdown in air or under stress.
India’s First Nano event at Banglore
December 8th, 2007The event “Bangalore Nano 2007″ was inaugurated Karnataka Governor Sh. Rameshwar Thakur on 5th December 2007. It is also the India’s firs nano event.
The Karnataka state government is hosting the event with Jawahar Lal Nehru Centre for Advance scientific Research (JNCASR). The Karnatake Government is trying to encourage nano science and nano-technology in the state.
A leading professor & scientist Sh. C.N.R. Rao was also conferred the Nano National Award by the Karnataka governor Sh. Rameshwar Thakur at the event.
Although the nanotechnology industry in generalin India have the shortage of technical expertise, the state of Karnataka have rich talent of young scientists and engineers. The city of Bangalore is also known as silicon city of India is set to become the centre of nanotechnology after being hub of IT and biotechnology.
Nanotech commercialization could suffer
December 5th, 2007Second annual conference on Nanopolicy sponsored by the Centre on Nanotechnology & Soceity was held in Washington DC on November 30 and it highlighted the lack of information and clarities that could hamper the full swing commercialization of Nanotechnology. There was a consensus among various participants and penalists and all argued that the Federal Government should take more steps to coordinate between various agencies and to ensure that the fund is timely provided.
Various authors and penalists also argued that the nanotech industry is still lacking information about the conditions required to label a product as nanotech. Members at the nanotechnology panel emphasised on various parameters such as morphology, surface area, solubility, particle size and composition of nanoparticles and all these parameters should be considered for labelling a material as nanotech.
As around 70% of nanotechnology at lab scale did not reach the marketplace so there is a need to look into the various factors so that the technology commercialization is increased. The other hindrance factors to the commercialization includes the deficiency in Federal regulation and insufficient federal oversight.
Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. announced $40 million private placement
December 2nd, 2007Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. is a major provider of nanotechnology based products and technology. The nanotechnology based products and technology are mainly used in industrial aplications, transportation of energy, life science applications and stationary power.
Recently Altair Nanotechnology announces the completion of a purchase agreement of $40 million with Al Youuf LLC. As per the terms and conditions of agreement, Altairnano will issue 11,428,572 shares to Al Yousuf LLC at a price of $3.5 per share. As per the contractual restrictions , no shares can be sold before two years and one third shares each will be released from restrictions at the end of two, three and four years.
According to the President and Chief Executive Officer, Alan J. Gotcher this agreement will enhance the transportation and stationary power markets of Altair Nanotechnology Inc. The contract will further support manufacturing growth, especially advanced power and energy storage products.
Tiny Laser Light-Powered Motor
November 29th, 2007In a recently published news tiny laser light-powered motor was invented by Japanese scientists. Researchers at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan has successfully developed a tiny laser light-powered motor that can be suitable for various medical applications.
The new motor is designed to work in advance areas specifically unsuitable for conventional motors such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) medical scanners. These light-powered motors can withstand high magnetic field.
These tiny laser light-powered motor will reduce the cost of expensive shielding required for the electric motors in various medical and industrial machineries. This is a new area of nanotechnology and it will open many new applications of compact laser light-powered motors.
Environmental and health impact of Nanotechnology
November 26th, 2007According to a report recently publiched in the Journal of nature Technology, scientists are much more worried about the environmental and health impact of the nanotechnology. Resarchers of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Arizona State University carried out a national telephonic survey in American households including 363 scientists and engineers working in nanotechnology area.
The outcome of the study is the biggest worry as the people are unsure about the health and environmental problems associated with the use of hundreds of products based on this technology. However, the scientists have yet to ascertain the exact health and environmental problems associated with the technology as research has yet to be done.
A large number of technology applications has already been focussed and some of the already built products include golf clus, antimicrobial food storage containers, tennis rakets etc. Although scientists are optimistic about the benefitsof nanotechnology, however many of those are more concerns about environmental and health related problems.
Synthesis of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs)
November 10th, 2007There are various synthesis techniques for double-walled carbon nanotubes, however the most common synthesis technique is arc-discharge technique. In this technique double-walled carbon nanotubes are prepared by using an arc in an atmoshphere of hydrogen and argon at 350 torr. Catalyst for synthesis is prepared by heating Ni, Co, Fe and S powders in an inert atmoshphere at 500 degree centigrade.
In the above synthesis technique double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) is predominantly obtained. These DWNTs have an outer diameter in the range of 1.9 - 5.0 nm and inner diameter in the range of 1.1 - 4.0 nm. Researchers have also synthesized double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) by hydrogen arc discharge technique using multi-wall carbon nanotubes or carbon nanofibres as feedstcok and found that the double-wall carbon nanotubes thus produced have higher purity than that produced from graphite powders.
High purity double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) can also be produced by high temperature pulsed arc-discharg technique. The temperature in this technique is kept very high at about 1250 degree centigrade and Y/Ni alloy is used as catalyst. The double-walled carbon nanotubes produced by this technique have an inner and outer diameter in the range of 0.8-1.2 nm and 1.6-2.0 nm respectively.
