Graphene Oxide combined with Polymers
May 14th, 2012Ina recent development, researchers at the College of William & Mary have combined polymers with graphene. The addition of graphene to the polymer enhances the functionality of polymers and the new materials can therefore find multiple applications as these are super strong and much more flexible than ordinary plastics.
The research findings have recently published in the journal Macromolecules. According to the researchers, the graphene oxide reinforced polymers being light weight could open up new material possibilities. The light weight materials can find applications in automotive applications and thus can help in designing fuel efficient automobiles.
Graphene is excellent material that is strong enough and it can add functionality to polymers and at the same time graphene oxide has semiconducting characteristics as well. Researchers are of the view of designing the new material that have controlled semiconducting properties that can find applications in solar cells. Researchers are also hopeful that many more application areas can be explored and the material can be designed accordingly.
New Nano-sized Magnet could lead to Development of New Electronic Devices
May 8th, 2012Storage devices are being used for storing various types of information and new compact devices are being demanded by the industries for various applications. Now, researchers have moved forward by developing a new nano-sized magnet that can help in developing new electronic devices with improved processing features.
Research team led by Dr Will Branford of Imperial College London has found that the honeycomb pattern nano sized magnets in spin ice are superior to conventional magnetic domains as here interactions between domain is minimized. The research team has also found that the large arrays of these nano-sized magnets can be used for storing computable information.
The research team investigated the magnetic state of the nano-structured spin ices using a magnetic field and predicted the state by measuring electrical resistance and found that at temperature below minus 223C, these magnetic bits arrange themselves into patterns. This behavior changes the resistance to an electric current and the characteristics change can be identified.
New Hope for Prostate Cancer Patients
April 5th, 2012Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has funded a study to carry out the use of nanotechnology for drug delivery and researchers at David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT in Phase 1 clinical trial of has used the first nanomedicine BIND 014 successfully for directly delivering the drug to the cancer cells. The research results have recently been published in Science Translational Medicine.
BIND Biosciences developed BIND 014, which is a nanomedicine that combines a ligands and nanoparticle  and this nanomedicine contains the proven cancer medicine docetaxel encapsulated by FDA approved and biodegradable polymers. Ocetaxel has successfully been used in treating a large numbers of cancer cells including breast cancer cells, lung cancer cells and prostate cancer cells.
The nanomedicine BIND 014 is designed to target prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). The nanomedcine was designed to over-deliver the medicine at the tumor cell and the increased availability of the drug at the cancer cell translates significant improvement in anti-tumor activity. Although BIND 014 are being used for over a decade now for targeting PSMA but the current study also established that PSMA is also found on the surfaces of new blood vessels of other cancers.
New computing devices based on nano-magnets
April 2nd, 2012New and improved computing devices such as high capacity storage devices are being demanded by the consumers and in line to meet the market demands, researchers have moved a step forward and found that by using nano-sized magnets, the new electronics devices with greater capacity can be made. The research findings have recently been published in the journal Science.
Although there are hard storage devices available presently and these are made up of magnetic ingredients and therefore the major problems associated with these hard discs is that the magnetic domain interact with the surrounding. The researcher at Imperial College of London has come up with a honeycomb pattern of nano-sized magnets and reduces the interference of the neighbors up to two thirds.
Researchers are working with the magnets at a temperature below minus 223 0C and are able to perform read and write operations, however still the challenge is to perform calculations and make these operational at room temperature. Researchers are studying to manipulate the magnetic state of the nano-structured spin ices using magnetic field. The researcher team led by Dr Will Branford is also looking to read their state by measuring the electrical resistance.
If we compare the current technology to the research team findings, we can clearly see that in the current technology one bit of information is stored in one magnetic domain, however the new research suggests that the cluster of multiple domains could be used to solve the complex problems in single calculations.
These are the beginnings and instead a small step forward, however there are lot of hurdles and researchers will need to overcome these before they create prototype based on the technique. Further the aspect of temperature and especially the incorporation of room temperature in the algorithm will require detailed study , however the researchers are hopeful with this new technology and hope that the honeycomb technique will be available within next 10-15 years from now.
Nanoparticles for Wound Healing Applications
March 30th, 2012Slow healing wounds affect large number of elderly people especially who suffers from diabetes, immune suppression and peripheral vascular disease. Slow healing or non-healing wounds often decrease the quality life in older men and women and in US alone more than 2.5 million people are affected with the problem.
Nitric Oxide has been found to critically influence the wound healing role and attempts have been made to administer Nitric Oxide (NO) around the wound areas.
Actually NO heals the wound through a complex process, which involves antimicrobial properties, modulation of platelets and vasodilatory effects, promotion of angiogenesis and administered NO has shown some goof effects, however the current administration process are not human friendly and at the same time, these are costly as well.
In a recent online issue of 6th March 2012 of Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine claim that they have found a better solution for NO storage that can be used for treating slow healing wounds. Adam Freidman and his team has found that a nanoparticle platform compised of silane based sol-gel and sugar derived glasses can generate, store and deliver NO in a controlled and sustained manner and the research team has already utilized the technique in immuno-deficient mice.Â
Graphene Nanosheets to be produced cost effectively
March 27th, 2012Researchers from South Korea and Case Western University has recently reported a technique for mass production of graphene nanosheets and the research findings has been published in the online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Graphene sheets has many advantages and one of the most important properties of the sheets is that these are very good conductor of electricity.
Researchers used a unique combination of graphite and frozen carbon di-oxide in the ball miller, a canister filled with stainless steel balls and once the canister was turned for two days , the mechanical force produced graphite flakes. These graphite flakes were actually carboxylated by carboxylic acid formed during milling and were open up for chemical interaction.
The advantage of the carboxylated edges was that these graphene flakes seperates out in five or fewer layer graphene sheets once these dispersed in the solvents. Both protic and aprotic solvents were used by the researchers and found that the edges make it possible to get the end product as graphene nanosheets. Â These were further compressed into pallets and it was found by researchers that these are much better conductors of electricity.
Nanopore in Graphene may provide Ultrafast Inexpensive DNA Sequencing
March 24th, 2012Graphene is one of the fast growing areas where a number of researchers are exploring the possible applications of it in different fields and in continuation to various studies now researchers at University of Delaware have conducted high performance computer modeling indicating its use for DNA sequencing. The research findings have been published in the recent issue of Nano Letters.
As it is well known now that graphene is a two-dmensional sheets of carbon atoms, which are arranged in honeycomb pattern and earlier studies by researchers at University of Pennsylvania has already demonstrated that nanopores can be sculpt in the graphene sheet using an electron beam. The new approach developed by researchers now is based on the use of these nanopores in the graphene sheet.
Now the researchers propose that the DNA is allowed to pass through a few nanometer diameter hole in graphene sheet and electric current flowing transversely through the graphene or current of ions flowing vertically through the pore are used for detecting the DNA bases within nanopore. The researchers are hopeful that the technique will be ultra fast and as well cost effective.
Nanotechnology improves Nanoscale Li-ion Batteries Performance
March 21st, 2012Researchers at  NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) have found that the electrolytic layer thickness can significantly affect the performance of the lithium-ion battery and the researchers have built a number of nanowire batteries . The research findings have recently published in the journal Nano Letters.
Micro Electro Mechanical Machines (MEMS) have been emerged as the revolutionary substances that can play a key role in wide range of applications and thinner batteries with improved performance can significantly enhance the development of these MEMS, which can be as small as few micrometers. The MEMS requires fast charging battery to be used as power source and smaller the battery, smaller will be the MEMS devices.
Research team at NIST have now created a veritable forest of tiny solid state lithium ion batteries and these batteries are around 7 micrometer in height and around 800 nanometer in width made from the silicon nanowire by depositing metal layers that works as cathode in these miniature batteries. Researchers used TEM (transmission electron microscope) to study the current flow through the batteries.
Summer Events during September 2012 on Nano Energy and Nano Photnics
March 18th, 2012CFN (centre of Functional Nanostructures) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is going to organize summer school events 2012. he dates for the two summer events has been announced and these will be held on nano-photonics during September 10-13, 201 and Nano-energy during September 14-17, 2012.
Nano-photonics and nano-energy are the two major areas of research at CFN and these programs are designed to address the gap areas and advices required for advanced graduate students, researchers, postdocs and other scientists working in these areas. These programs provide the opportunity to interact with other students and presenting your interest in the form of a poster, which will be displayed during the entire program.
The poster should be a size of 841 X 1189 square mm in portrait form in which each participant should describe his or her research activities, scientific background and current research project an a small photograph at one corner of the poster will help identifying the poster owner and this will help in interacting common research interest.
A provision for ECTS credit point is also available and if you attend the program and present a poster, a certificate equivalent to 2 ECTS credit points will be issued. For further details you can contact to the organizers and seek further clarifications if required.
Designer Electrons with Tunable Properties
March 15th, 2012A strong hope for new types of material and devices emerged recently as researchers at Stanford University and U. S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has created a system of designer electrons.  With the help of these, researchers are hopeful that they can now tune the fundamental properties of electrons.
Researchers have recently reported their findings on the journal Nature and claims that inspired by graphene, they have hand crafted, honey-comb shaped structures. Researchers initially found that electrons in this shape have graphene like properties; however researchers were able to tune these properties in electrons that were difficult in real graphene.
Researchers use Scanning Tunneling Microscope for designing the structure and with the help of STM, placed individual carbon monoxide molecules on the perfectly smooth copper surface. Placing carbon monoxide layer on the surface, the free flowing electrons were repelled by the carbon monoxide , which allowed free electrons to make honeycomb pattern. Further repositioning the carbon monoxide layer on surface changed the symmetry of electron flow and different electron patterns were achieved.
1ST Nanotechnology Ne3LS Network Conference in November 2012
March 12th, 2012Ne3LS Network (Network on ethical, environmental, economic and legal and social issues pertaining to nanotechnology) is organizing first International conference with the theme “The Responsible Development of Nanotechnology: Challenges and Perspectivesâ€. The conference will held at Montreal, Canada during November 1-2, 2012.
The conference will provide opportunity to interact among various nanotechnology players as well as users of the nanotechnology and some of the key issues to be deliberated during the conference includes
·        The risk associated with the nanotechnology for social, environmental and economical and how to assess them
·        Impacts of health care systems especially of nanomedicine
·        The responsibility of industry , government, researchers and general public in the development of nanotechnology and as well as the role of industry in the development of regulations and standards
·        The methods to consult and inform general public the issues related to nanotechnology
A lot of invited speakers from government, industry, academia and research institutions are expected to deliberate the above points in general discussion during the conference. The organizers of the conference are now seeking abstracts from various researchers across the globe in the frontier areas of nanotechnology Toxicity, nanofoods, ethics, safety and risks, regulatory standards, public private risk sharing etc. If you are a research scholar in the nanotechnology, it is the best opportunity to interact with the global fraternities. For more details, you can check the website Ne3LOS.ca.
TERI-Deakin Nano-biotechnology Research centre
March 9th, 2012Recently Minister for Innovation, Australia Louise Asher along with Jan den Hollander, Vice Chancellor, Deakin University and Dr. R.K. Pachauri, DG TERI inaugurated the TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Research Centre. This new state of the art research centre will provide solutions for advanced research in the areas of agricultural, biomedical and allied subjects.
The honorable minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Louise Asher is hopeful that the new facilities will enhance the research in the areas of Nano Biotechnology, and the facilities will also provide the solutions for sustainable futures. On the occasion, Dr. R. K. Pachauri has also stressed that the new research in the area of biotechnology will help in making difference in the livings of many people.
DIRI ( Deakin India Research Initiative) was launched by the Deakin University in the year 2009 and these research initiatives were aimed at focusing research in the areas of material science, nanotechnology and biotechnology. These programs were taken by the university to bridge the gap between industry and academia and a number of research scholars undertake research in these frontier areas under the Deakin University Research Initiative.
Nanotechnology applications in Medicine
February 25th, 2012If we talk about the medical applications of nanotechnology, we might see a large number of applications including the diagnosis and treatment for cancer. The applications in this area seem to be of much importance as more and more researchers wants to save people from the killer disease cancer.
Cancer especially lung  cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among people and large number of people die every year from lung cancer alone. Diagnosis is the most important aspect of saving life from cancer and a timely diagnosis is must to achieve better results.
The timely diagnosis can provide a lot of options for the treatment including the chemotherapy, radiotherapy etc., and nanotechnology is found to have great influence in treating patients in chemotherapy. A lot of nano-technique devices are being developed across the globe and these techniques are being examined as carrier of the drug for drectly delivering the drug to the cancer cells.
Synergistic Effect of Radiation Therapy combined with Chemotherapy
February 22nd, 2012Researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas have found that the carbon nanoparticles based drug therapy in combination with radiation therapy can bring in more fruitful results for patients suffering from head and neck cancer. The research paper by the team has recently been published in the journal ACS Nano.
Chemotherapy is one of the techniques of cancer treatment and in the present study researchers used nanoparticles for encapsulating drug molecules and delivering the drug molecules directly to cancer cells. The researcher team James Tour and Jeffrey Myers combined paclitaxel (PTX) and Cetuximab (Cet) with functionalized polyethylene glycol hydrophilic carbon clusters.
Paclitaxel (PTX) is used in chemotherapy for treating head and neck, lung, ovarianand breast cancers and the researchers have developed a new way to combine PTX with Cetuximab, with carbon clusters that absorb the active ingredient and the new compound is water soluble and at the same time is much more effective in targeting tumors. While treating with this technique researchers also observed that much smaller dosages is required here by eliminating the Cremophor , which is used in conventional treatments and therefore it is the real advantage of the new technique.
Engineered Nanoparticles in Food can harm Human Health
February 19th, 2012Engineered nanoparticles are being used for various applications and billions of these nanoparticles are now part of our daily food. Researchers have now studied a particular FDA approved nanoparticle and found that it may be harmful to human health.
The research led by Michael Shuler, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Cornell University on a FDA approved polystyrene nanoparticle, which is commonly found in various food items and vitamins and the research findings has been published in the online journal Nature Nanotechnology. The study reveals that the short time exposure of the nanoparticles initially blocks iron absorption, which is an essential nutrients required for our body.
The researchers took chicken and human cells in Petri dishes and exposed the cells with short range and long range with nanoparticles. In both the cases they got similar results and in short range the blockage of iron absorption was notices, however long range exposure caused change in intestinal cell structure.
The research has opened the debate on the safety of these nanoparticles, which were earlier considered quite safe, however the results indicate otherwise and therefore a complete study on the nanoparticles and especially food nanoparticles is required.
Arrogene NanoTechnology $1,100,000 Offering
February 16th, 2012Arrogene, a fast growing company that was formed in the year 2007 for commercializing the new cancer targeting drugs. The company uses a proprietary molecular delivery platform and it develops the latest and new generation nano-polymers based therapeutic and diagnostic drugs.
WestPark Capital Inc., a full service investment bank, has now announced a second offering of private placement for Arrogene Nanotechnology Inc for a total of 610,000 units. These units consists one share of common stock and two common stock purchase warrants and generated $ 610,000. It is already understood that the earlier closing of January 2012 generated $500,000 and thus totaling a gross of $1,100,000.
The offerings were made only by the private placement memorandum and the amount received will be used as working capital and various other purposes such as research and development including in the areas of brain, breast and lung cancer. WestPark Capital acted as a placement agent and it also provides various services especially in emerging growth sectors.
Desalination Battery may be a Future Solution for Freshwater Production
February 13th, 2012Water is an essential ingredient that is required by each human for consumption and in today’s scenario more than 600 millions people across the globe have either scarcity of water or are living under water stressed conditions and it is estimated that by 2025, the number will be 4 -5 times of current level.
People has already used nanotechnology or nanomaterials for making the water potable from seawater by desalination and demineralization, however the techniques are still not fully commercialized or are very costly and therefore researchers across the globe are looking for alternative techniques that can be cost effective. Reverse osmosis is one of the widely used technologies today; however its disadvantages include the huge power consumption required for operating the process at very high pressure.
Researchers at the Centre for Electrochemical Sciences in Germany has now demonstrated the desalination battery that can be operated by performing cycles in reverse and the battery captures and releases the sodium chloride, which is the main constituents in sea water. Although the researchers state that their research is at preliminary stage, however they are successfully able to demonstrate that the battery captures salt from one seawater stream and releases it into another seawater stream.
The report findings has been published in the Nano Letters of Jan 23, 2012 issue and researchers claim that the battery will consume less power, and the water produced can be used for various purposes including irrigation, industrial applications etc.
New MoS2 Based Catalyst for Hydrogen Generation
February 10th, 2012Titanium is one of the metals, which on active state act as catalyst for splitting water and converting it into the constituent’s hydrogen and oxygen. The fine surfaces  of the metal in active state is actually responsible for the conversion, however the bulk of the metal remains inert and researchers are now claims that they have developed an alternate similar in structure and chemical activity that is cost effective and can possibly replace titanium.
Researchers from Berkeley National Laboratory synthesized a molecule that has triangular shape MoS2 units along the edges of molybdenite crystals. The bulk of the molybdenite crystalline material being inert and only has the catalytic activity edges that perfectly resembles with the metal catalyst. These can be used to make new materials that are much more efficient and cost effective.
The lead researchers Christopher J. Chang and Jeffrey R. Long are the lead authors and the research paper has been published in the online journal Science. Molybdenite is the crystalline sulfide of molybdenum and although MoS2 is commonly used in various lubricant formulations, molybdenite is standard catalyst used to remove sulphur from petroleum and natural gas. Molybdenite in nanoparticle form has been demonstrated as catalyst by various researchers in recent past and it seems to be a good choice as catalyst for electrochemical and photochemical generation of hydrogen from water.
Vertical Graphene Based Transistors
February 7th, 2012Graphene’s importance has been reported for its unique properties and it is one of the most researched materials that can suitably replace computer chips, however the major drawback seems to be too much leakage of electric current once it is packed densely and this might cause the chip to melt down.
Graphene exists in single layer of carbon and a large number of researchers are working to find solution for the problem as mentioned above so that it can be satisfactorily used in a computer chips. A team Of Manchester Scientists led by Nobel Laureates Prof Konstantin Novoselov and Prof. Andre Geim have now opened a third dimension, which can really solve the problem.
Researchers in the previous studies have used grapheme in horizontal directions and now the Manchester University research findings has been published in a recent issue of Science, where researchers have suggested graphene to be used in vertical direction instead of horizontal direction.
The researchers obtained a tunneling diode by using graphene in electrode form and through electronic tunneling via dielectric into another metal. Researchers thus got a vertical field effect tunneling transistor that contains the special ingredient graphene.
Record 9.1% Efficient Solar Cell Based on Polymer and Fullerene
February 4th, 2012Solar energy is one of the readily available energy source and the major problem associated with the tapping of this renewable energy is that at present it is costly than the conventional sources of energy such as coal, oil and gas. Researchers are working hard to minimize the cost by either bringing down the solar panel cost or enhancing the efficiency of the solar panels.
A lot of research is taking in the direction of organic solar cells which will not only help in making these with cost effective substrate such as plastics but will have high potential to improve the efficiency of the solar panels. The challenge with the solar cells technology or specifically the organic solar cell technology is the minimizing the overall cost of production and suitable technique so these are manufactured at industrial scale.
Polyera, has a vast experience in the area of opto-electronics and functional electronics and it has recently claimed that the leading supplier of high performance functional materials has achieved a record 9.1% efficient polymer/fullerene organic solar cells. The company claims to have achieved this using its proprietary semiconductor material Activink PV 2000. The additional feature of the newly developed technology is it’s commercial viability and the company has plan of commercialization.
Storage Devices get new Record Density
February 2nd, 2012Hard disks are one of the common storage devices that uses granular media, a nano magnetic grains that are randomly arranged on the disks and each disks contains a number of such grains. The common approach to increase the storage capacity can either be achieved by reducing the grain size or reduce the number of grains per bit, however both the approaches have limitations and it is really difficult to go beyond a particular grain size.
Researchers are working hard to push beyond the terabit per square inch limit, which researchers seem to cross a little bit difficult. Now researchers at the Institute of Material Research and Engineering at A*STAR and other institutes has suggested a new alternative approach to enhance the storage devices and they called it as BMP (bit-patterned media) and the research findings has been published in the journal Nanotechnology
Researchers claim that they were able to fabricate BMP at densities as high as 3.3 terabits per square inch using a combination of technologies and researchers found that the BMP technology holds promises to recording densities in excess of 1.5 terabits per square inch. Researchers first used electron beam lithography followed by the deposition of cobalt- palladium films by magnetic film deposition technique on the nanospots obtained by lithography.
New Aerogel Made from Silica and Cellulose
January 30th, 2012Gel is a typical structure that holds the liquid within its cavities and researchers led by Jie Cai now claims that they have made a novel nanocomposite that consists of almost air. The research findings have been published in a recent issue of the journal Angewandte Chemie.
An aerogel holds air and specifically if we see an example of the silicon oxide, the aerogel of which consists more than 99% weight air and that’s why these aerogel are light weight comparable to the weight of air and are translucent similar to solidified smoke. One of the characteristics of these aerogels is that these are non-inflammable and are good insulators.
Researchers have developed a nano- composite of cellulose and silicon. The process involves in two steps and in first step, researchers produced cellulose gel from alkaline urea solution by dissolving and regenerating it in the form of nanofibrillar, which acts as scaffold for silica gel and in second step they produced silica gel by standard sol-gel process and the composite gel was obtained by drying the liquid.
The newly developed aerogel was tested for various physico-chemical properties and it demonstrated many properties superior to the conventional products. This new product can find applications in various areas including insulation in space shuttles.
Nanoparticles to be used for drug delivery during Organ Transplant
January 28th, 2012Organ transplant is one of the toughest operations and the drug required during organ transplant can have harmful side effects and the researchers at University of Strathclyde in Glasgow are now in a process to develop a new system that will minimize side-effects. At present cyclosporine is commonly used and the most common side effects of this widely used drugs are kidney and liver damages especially if the medicine is used for prolonged.
Ravi Kumar, Professor at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences is the main leader of the research, which has found the way of capturing the very small dose of the medicine cyclosporine. The new technique involves nanoparticles and according to the researchers these nanoparticles will help entrapping the cyclosporine.
 Researcher’s further claim that the medicine currently available in market contains vegetable oil based components, which are insoluble in water but are toxic. With the maximum concentration of the drug available in the market, researchers were able to strike balance between strength and safety. The research findings has already been published in the Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology.
New report on Environmental, Health and Safety related to Nanomaterials
January 26th, 2012Engineered nanomaterials are being used for various applications and it was always felt to understand the environmental, health and safety related aspects of these materials in details before these are brought in practice. Recently National Research Council (NRC) has published a report where it is focused to address the strategic approach to develop research to address these issues.
If we look into the nanomaterials or we better call these as engineered nanomaterials, these are the materials that have been created on molecular level and the properties of these nanomaterials differ from the bulk of the materials. These are at present not only used in skin care and cosmetics but many of the nanomaterials are being designed for medical use especially for treating many diseases.
A lot of research is going on throughout the world and we may see a large number of nanomaterials come in use for multiple applications for the coming years and therefore the research committee has identified only four areas which need to be addressed in the next five years.
These four categories include the identification and quantification of nanomaterials that are released and are exposed to population and environment, understanding the process that affect both exposure and potential hazard, examining the nanomaterial interaction ranging from subcellular to eco system especially in complex systems and support and adapt the knowledge infrastructure and research so that progress is accelerated and rapid feedback on the advanced system is provided.
Nanoparticles that has potential to deliver Cancer Drug accurately
January 23rd, 2012A novel class of micelles has been synthesized by Kit Lam, Professor Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and his team at the US Davis and these micelles are called as dual-responsive boronate cross linked micelles (BCMs) and the research work is published in the recent issue of Angewandte Chemie.Â
These micelles are nano-sized measuring about 25-50 nanometers and hold potential as nanocarriers for greater accuracy to deliver cancer drugs to the tumors. Researchers claim that these BCMs releases the medicine as soon as these come in contact with the acidic micro environment and thus the premature drug release can be prevented by selecting a reversible cross-linked nanocarrier.
Stimuli responsive cross-linked micelles (SCM) have been found very versatile in releasing the payload as soon as these get some specific triggers and the present system develop by researchers show a great promise to the treatment of cancer. It has been observed that nanoparticles can prematurely release drug, which can cause damage to the healthy cell and at the same time the cancer cells don’t get the medicine and hence they spread as usual.
SCM can better retain the payload and prevent the premature delivery of the drug and the new dual-responsive boronate cross-linked micelles that researchers have developed can actually act to a number of stimulating agents and can thus ensure that the drug is delivered in the right environment. These micelles due to boronic acid and catechol containing polymers are sensitive to the slight change of the pH of the environment.
Efficient OLED to light up in Europe
January 20th, 2012Energy is one of the prime requirements of each country and with the aim to improve the energy efficiency and life of the OLED or organic light emitting diode, EU’s Seventh Program (FP7) the OLED100.eu project was focused. Thanks to the researchers and scientists working in the program and whose effort has significantly increased the energy efficiency and life of the OLED.
The project theOLED100.eu is led by Phillips Technologies, GmbH and is in progress for the last 36 months and researchers and scientists have almost resolved the technical issues with the project leading to the more and more acceptance of the OLED by general consumers. Â The researchers also developed a large area OLED and succeeded in demonstrating the technology developed by them.
Using the Novaled PIN OLED technology, researchers from the OLED100.eu teams succeeded in developing a high efficiency OLED showing 60 lumens/watt, which is better efficient that a conventional energy saving lamp and using this technique the lifetime was also obtained comparable to the inorganic LED lifetime. The research team also succeeded in the devising standardization of the OLED measurement procedures and the team is hopeful that the project result will increase better understanding and further acceptance of the technology by end user.
National Institute of Health Partners with FEI to crate Living Lab Structural Biology Centre
January 17th, 2012Structural biology techniques such as near-resolution microscopy technique is found useful in important medical discovering in many areas including cancer and AIDS and now a new lab has been created by NIH and FEI, which will provide more in-depth study in various inter-disciplines. The new facility called as “Living Lab structural Biology Centre†was formed by agreement between the NIH and a scientific company FEI.
The lab is located at NIH campus and it will indeed provide unique interdisciplinary collaboration and will harness the strength in multiple disciplines in the structural biology. The experts from various institutes such as FEI, National cancer Institute and other institutes will enhance their understanding on the key issues. The Centre will also create facilities and some of the state of the art equipment such as transmission electron microscope, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, cryo electron microscopy etc., will be made available in the centre.
National Institute of Health (NIH) is primarily engaged in the development of ways and means to protect public health by fostering the innovative research strategies and creating the research facilities and environment and this collaborative work will further help the mission of the institute. Â This collaborative jobs will involve the identification the role of molecular structures in the causes of various diseases such as AIDS, cancer etc., through the latest techniques and equipment, which will help in providing the proper development of treatment and medication for the deadly diseases.
Spherical Gold Nanodroplets produced
January 14th, 2012Researchers now have developed a technique through which the perfect spherical gold nanodroplets were produced. The details of the research has appeared in recent issue of Advanced Materials where the team of International researchers claim that the nanodroplets that produced through nanojets can find major applications in medicine.
Researchers used the backjet phenomenon and using a plasmonic hotspots or the region where electric current is used for heating gold nanostrutctures locally converts the gold nanostructures to the desired nanojets. The tightly focused laser pulses acts as heat source and these are sufficient enough to provide energy to melt the surface of gold and once the gold is melt, nanojet of molten gold appears upwards.
There was an anticipation from the scientists working on the project that the gold nanojet that will formed will not be significantly smaller than the wavelength of light, however the researchers found opposite and the nanojet can be made significantly smaller than the wave length of light with the help of the plasmonic hotspots. Dr. Ventsislay Valey of KU Leuven and other researchers believe that the gold nanodroplets as synthesized will have multiple applications in medical field.
New Nanomaterials for highly efficient refrigerators and cooling systems
January 11th, 2012Thermoelectric refrigerators are being used for more than 20 years now and these solid state cooling systems use thermoelectric materials that convert electricity into a range of temperatures from hot to cold and recently the research carried out shows a potential of improvement in these devices.
One of the major disadvantages with the present thermoelectric cooling devices is that the material is costly and at the same time, it is difficult to make huge quantity of the required material. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have now designed a new way to produce advanced nanomaterials that even will not require any refrigerants and moving parts in the modern high efficient refrigerators. The study findings have been published in the Journal Nature Materials.
Researchers have actually deliberately contaminated the nanostructured thermoelectric materials or it is better to say doped the material with sulfur. The resultant pea size pallets are obtained by cooking the dopant and the material together in a microwave oven and these pallets are showing much superior properties than the thermoelectric materials available in the market. This is superfast and very economical way of making the material that can significantly change the future thermoelectric cooling devices.
Harvard Scientists observed Electrical Signals While Passing DNA through Nanopore
January 8th, 2012Research team led by Charles Lieber at Harvard University have designed a device that can detect small electrical changes that are produced by the DNA strands while the strands is allowed to pass through the nanopores and the new technique perhaps will bring the revolution in DNA sequencing in the near future. For the first time, Professor Charles and the team has created an integrated nanopore detector.
DNA sequencing is still a time consuming and costly technique and focus around the globe is to minimize the cost of DNA sequencing making it quicker and cost effective. Although nanopores were used for sequencing DNA strands by observing electrical signals more than a decade ago but reading and analyzing those subtle electrical currents is indeed a difficult task and the technique never became a reality at larger scale.
It was a great challenge to measure the tiny changes in electrical currents at localized level, which by developing a detector that is extremely localized, Lieber and his team reached a step closure to DNA sequencing. The technique used by the research team is based on earlier work on nanowires, however changing it to nanoscale nanowire transistor and amplifying the electrical potential at pore level made the task more convenient and scalable.
Researchers were not only able to measure the electric potential quickly as larger signal, which is an important aspect of DNA sequencing as DNA is large enough so that each and every part of it is correctly analyzed. This localized measurement also scalable and parallel sequencing can easily be carried out and this will further significantly reduce the cost of DNA sequencing.Â
TMC Acquired by AMETEK
January 5th, 2012Technical Manufacturing Corporation (TMC) is one of the world leaders that are engaged in the business of high performance vibration isolation systems for multiple applications including microelectronics, manufacturing, life sciences etc., and the company TMC has recently acquired by AMETEK as per the announcement made by AMETEK. TMC, a medium size private manufacturer having more than 40 years of experience has the sales of around $30 million will be part Ultra Precision Technologies Division of AMETEK.
AMETEK is a renowned name in the area of electronics instruments including electro mechanical devices and with the recent acquisition of TMC, the vibration analysis of sophisticated instruments will become convenient. Most of the high end analytical instruments require highest order of vibration isolation to provide accurate and reliable results and TMC provides the leading edge in these areas.
Although TMC will enhance the capabilities of Electronics instruments Group of AMETEK, which has a sales of over $1.3 billion out of total sales of more than $30 billion of AMETEK, and especially the company will benefit from the  patented piezo technology.
Fuel Cell reactions monitored at Nanoscale
January 2nd, 2012Researchers from United States and Ukraine have now observed and described the reactions inside fuel cells in Nanoscale. The findings of the research team have come in the form of a paper in the journal Nature Chemistry. For explaining the new innovation, researchers from US and Ukraine has devised a new microscopy technique.
Fuel cells consists of two electrodes separated by ion conductor and these are coming up fast in many hybrid vehicles to produce energy from hydrogen, where hydrogen is converted to electrical energy. Actually the energy or electrical energy is produced by transfer of ions between the electrodes and an expensive material, platinum is used as catalyst.
The electron transfer mechanism and the role of platinum plays the key role and the oxygen reduction process determines the longevity and efficiency of fuel cells. Dr. Francesco Ciucci, a renowned mathematician has developed ESM (Electrochemical Strain Microscopy), a new microscopy technique that can monitor the ion transfer at nanoscale and while studying researchers found that the platinum catalyst up to 50 nanometer thick layer doesn’t allow equal degree of ion transfer.
University of Illinois Researchers Make High End Optoelectronic Devices
December 26th, 2011The researchers at University Of Illinois have developed a new method that can be used for developing the high end optoelectronics devices. Research led by Xiuling Li, Professor electrical and computer engineering developed a new innovative method to chemically etch patterned arrays in the semiconductors.
Chemical etching is done to improve the electrical and optical properties of the semiconductors and chemically two common methods wet and dry are used for etching. In wet method, a chemical solution is used to erode the semiconductor in all directions and in dry method; ions are bombarded to the surface.
The research findings has been published in the Nano- Letters where researchers claim that they have developed a two stage wet etching process to fine tune the structure of the semiconductors so that these can be used solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs), field effect transistors (FETs), capacitors and sensors.
 In the first stage researchers patterned the thin film of metal on GaAs surface and later the semiconductor with metal pattern is immersed in the chemical solution. The metal on the surface of the semiconductor is etched away by the chemical solution leaving behind the high aspect ratio structures required for high end applications.
New innovations can lead powerful optical devices
December 23rd, 2011New research at Purdue University has shown that the plasmonic nanoantennas can change the very important property of light that is called phase and the change in this property of light can significantly promise and hope for new powerful optical devices such as microscope, telecommunication and other optical devices.
The findings of the research have already been published in the recent online journal Science where researchers argue that the new discovery opens possibilities for many potential applications.Â
The discovery is based on Snell’s law, which implies that whenever light propagate from one medium to another there is no significant abrupt change in phase at the interface, however researchers from Harvard have already found that by placing a new structure at the interface, the phase changes abruptly and the material used is instead an array of antennas.
The researchers at Purdue University, created arrays of nanoantennas and changed the phase and thus changed the propagation of light. The researchers selected light in the range 1 to 1.9 microns as in the range of near infra red at around 1.5 microns light is used for telecommunications and therefore the technology can be used for potential applications.
ISA Award Goes to Berkley Design Automation
December 19th, 2011India Semiconductor automation (ISA) consists of more than 160 members from Indian Electronic System Design and Manufacturing and global manufacturing industry. ISA organizes many events to propagate the activities of Indian industries and works closely with private / public sector and governmental bodies.
Recently Berkley Design automation has announced that they have been selected for the ISA Technovation award in the intellectual property (semiconductor) category. Berkley is the one of the leading provider of the World’s fastest nanometer circuit verification and more than 100 reputed companies rely on the Berkley Design Automation for the circuit verification.
The recent award to Berkley goes for Semiconductor Intellectual property category and it was selected from among many multinational companies engaged in semiconductor research and development operation in India. This award is for the excellent contribution in the area of intellectual property created by multinational companies in India.
Nanotechnology helps in understanding cancer metastasis
December 16th, 2011Cancer detection at the earliest stage is the aim of the researchers working in the area and a recent nano- technique allow researchers to monitor the single cancer cell in real time and thus the technique help in identifying the cell responsible for spreading of the cancer disease. The research finding by the University of Michigan researchers has already been published in the recent issue of PLos One.
It is now very much clear that not all cancer cells spreads at same pace and some spread fast and some at very slow pace as all the tumor cells don’t have the same genetic code and in other words some of the cancer cells are difficult to destroy. Researchers are looking for those selected cells only which are not killed by a specific cancer drug and therefore the single cell study has a great role to play in.
Circulating cells are most dangerous cancer cells as these cells get separated from tumor and start circulating in blood stream and can invade the distance tissues in the body and therefore scientists have great interest in studying these cells. The metastasis is the main reason of deaths in cancer patients and unfortunately the number of these cells is very low and therefore studying them is really a difficult task and researchers are hopeful that the study of circulating cancer cells will lead to better treatment and better life for cancer patients.
In the new technique developed by the researchers at University of Michigan, researchers used magnets to rotate cancer cells and the spinning speed of the cell revealed their shape and status and for demonstrating these, they took magnetic nanoparticles and embedded cervical cancer cells. Once the solution was rotated under asynchronous magnetic field, researchers found that the dyeing and dividing cells rotate much slower and have specific pattern as well.
Nanotechnology Online Courses
December 13th, 2011Nanotechnology is becoming one of the favorite subjects for students and demand for the course covering some aspects of nanotechnology is rapidly growing. With the aim to impart some fundamental knowledge about nanotechnology to the students, the National Network for Computational Nanotechnology and Purdue University will offer online courses from January 2012.
The details can be obtained from nanoHUB.org and initially the first course on Basic Concepts of Nanoelectronics is on offer from Jan 23rd 2012 and it will cover five topics, which are the new Ohm’s law, quantum of conductance, electricity from heat, the spinning electron and quantum of conductance.Students on above topics will go through learning at the webportal and will have to pay $30 for each five week course.
These courses are aimed for graduate students, academics and engineers who wish to keep updated themselves for the latest developments in the field of nanoelectronics and who needs to understand basics.
Professor Supriyo Datta, an awrd winning researcher and teacher has been assigned the task of teaching the first two courses which will begin from January 23rd and March 19th 2012. Students will have the opportunity to interact with Professor Datta and other faculty members and researchers at Purdue University.
Collaboration for developing vaccine for RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus)
December 10th, 2011Although we might have come across many diseases caused by viruses the RSV is similar one but highly contagious and it causes bronchiolitis and pneumonia. The virus generally infects children and by the time child reaches at the age of 3, nearly all children would have been infected by the virus one or other time.
RSV is very dangerous for children who born premature or the children having other health conditions. RSV is also dangerous and needs careful examination and treatment for the elderly people and people who are suffering from pulmonary diseases, asthma etc. At present there is no vaccine for treating RSV and hopefully we may see some vaccine in near future.
With the aim to develop a vaccine for RSV, NanoBio Corporation has recently announced a preclinical collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. and the study will use the available combination of technologies (Merck’s proprietary RSV antigen & NanoBio’s Nanostat technology) from both the partners for the developmental work. Both the partners are looking forward in advancement of the RSV vaccine research.
Nanotech 2012 to be held during February 15-17 at Tokyo
December 7th, 2011Thailand is one of the beautiful country in recent past it is facing the worst hit by flood and especially in some of the regions are still under the worst climatic disaster and to seek help in business partnership, this year’s theme at NANOTECH is “Thailand: Nanotechnology for Natural disaster Mitigationâ€. Â
The country Thailand has suffered lot during past three months worst case of floods in past 50 years and more than 600 people lost their lives. The country’s 64 provinces has been affected by the flood and rain and it is expected that more than one million people will lose their jobs and the overall economic damage to the country is targeted over $20 billion.
NANOTECH has come forward voluntarily and has nanobednets and nano mosquito spray to the residence and as well the Nanotech has also participated in the relief centres. NANOTECH 2012 is going to showcase the research topics in 6 major areas that are based on natural disaster mitigation. These include  clean water, leptospirosis test kit, nano Sack, nano mosquito repellant, nano clean and nano guard products.
$50 Million approved for Research & Development on Nanotechnology
December 4th, 2011Recently on the initiative of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, US Senate approved 50 million dollars of fund for the development and research in the area of nanotechnology and the study will also include whether there is a need for a centre of nanotechnology. Senator Kirsten is a member of Armed Services Committee and has taken earlier initiative of language in the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act.
Senator earlier worked closely with other representatives for creation of a centre of nanotechnology at University of Albany and with this initiative, the new centre is likely to created at University of Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science,  however the College need to compete with other institutions for getting the fund.
Senator Gillibrand is a promoter of nanotechnology and she thinks that the best institute to carry forward the research initiative is Albany’s Nano College, and it will not only help the Defense Industrial base here but domestic industry will also benefit from it. With the efforts of senator and other house representative, the nanotechnology will definitely progress in the heart of this region, New York and will lead the world.
Three Dimensional Products offered by CVD Equipment
December 1st, 2011CVD Equipment Corporation is is one of the leading manufacturer of various equipments used in electronic components manufacturing such as CVD (chemical vapor deposition) for manufacturing carbon nanotubes, graphene etc. and recently the company has offered a new state of the art product named as CVD 3D Graphene TM cellular material and it  will be very useful for producing high performance products.
CVD earlier announced expansion of  the Application Laboratory be enhancing the strength on novel and high efficiencies materials that will enable growth. These products will be marketed throughout the globe by CVD Material Corporation.
 According to the company the CVD 3D Graphene TM cellular material is based on the three dimensional graphene having two dimensional graphene sheets and these graphene sheets are interconnected to form a three dimensional structure and this platform provides unique characteristics and material properties to the two and three dimensional graphene layers.
Further using the latest state of the art CVD equipment has features of functionalizing the three dimensional graphene to impart specific properties so that it can find applications in high performance products to be used in electronics and medical applications.
High Efficiency electroplating on silicon substrate developed
November 28th, 2011Solar energy is one of the easy and clean source of energy, however it’s conversion is tedious job and researchers across the globe are looking for some improved way of getting photovoltaic electricity. In the present conference of International Photovoltaic Science and Engineering, Nov 28- Dec 2, 2011, Fukuoka, Japan researchers have presented the paper through which they claim of high conversion efficiency.
Research at Kaneka has developed a technique using imec’s copper electroplating technology using 6-inch silicon substrate with an electroplated copper contact grid. This silver free approach used a formation of top grid electrode with copper electroplating and thus obtained a hetero-junction silicon solar cell, which the researchers claim that it’s conversion efficiency is around 21%, which is much higher than the conventional photovoltaic techniques.
Imec is headquartered in Belgium and is one of the world leader in nanoelectronics research and it has huge innovative and scientific knowledge among it’s total of 1900 staff including many guest researchers. On the other hand Kaneka is based in Osaka, Japan and employees more than 7000 people across the globe and photovoltaic market is it’s one of the core business. The present research output will have significant improvement in the future photovoltaic using the latest nanotechnique.
Nanotechnology Training at San Bernardino Community College from December 5
November 27th, 2011Here is the last opportunity to participate in the federally funded training program beginning December 5th at the San Bernardino Community College District as the grant is going to expire in February 2012. The grant is meant for graduates to impart the skill so that they can begin their career in the emerging sectors of nanotechnology.
The program is in continuation for the last three years and more than 400 individuals have taken hand on experience on the various tools and techniques provided during the training program. Interested individuals can go the website to learn more about the program or can contact to the Economic Development and Corporate Training Centre of the San Bernardino Community College District and can have the details.
Nanotechnology requires especial skills, which many people are lacking and once they are familiar with the basic skills, they can compete either in the job market or they can begin their career in Nanotechnology by going for specialized courses. Lots of topics including electronics devices, material characterization, fabrication, optoelectronics devices will be covered by the reputed faculties of the college.
Nanotechnology to help in power storage
November 25th, 2011Tapping of solar and wind energy is one of the task for the power engineers but they are looking for some high power rechargeable battery that can store large quantities of power. If the solution of this is achieved quickly, it will help in storing the excess solar power during summer and similarly excess wind power during windy season.
Researchers at Stanford now claims to have made a electrode, the battery component that is based on crystalline copper compound nanoparticles and the research finding has recently been published in the Nature Communications. The electrode has rigorously been tested in the lab and it survived 40,000 cycles of charging /discharging, which is much above than the conventional Lithium ion battery which normally deteriorates after 400 cycles.
The life of the electrode was significantly increased by using crystalline copper hexacyanoferrate for making it and the crystalline nanoparticle having an open framework allows ions to enter and leave and thus smoothens the charging and discharging process, which ultimately results in the faster charging and discharging of the electrode.
The researchers also tried the right size of ion for the structure and found that hydrated potassium is the better choice than lithium and sodium ions. This electrode is therefore the best option for a high voltage electrode and as a battery needs both high voltage and low voltage electrodes, researchers are looking for right type of low voltage electrode so that a complete battery can be used for storing excessive energy produced by renewable sources.
High Energy aluminum and copper oxide nanocomposite formed
November 21st, 2011Aluminum and copper oxide are mixed to produce energy and especially these were earlier used for welding railway track, however according to the recent claim of researchers, the energy density of specifically designed material can be at par to the nitroglycerine. Researchers at CNRS (Laboratory analysis and architecture system) in collaboration with the University Toulouse have developed an innovative technique for producing the energy.
As per the claimed technique the nanoparticles are brought in contact with the DNA strands and the strands allow nanoparticles to assemble and release the energy by combining various kinds of nanoparticles. The energy released by the new explosive is comparable to the best explosives and thus the energy can be used for powering the embedded system in the environment and even in the space.
DNA strands (two complimentary strands) self-assemble to form helix structure and remain firm and due to this property of DNA strands, researchers took separately grafted DNA onto the aluminum and copper oxide before mixing these together resulting in binding both nanoparticles to the solid material which ignites when heated to 410 degree Celsius. The composite not only have low ignition temperature but it also have similar energy density as of nitroglycerine. Â This composite can find many applications including igniters for internal combustion engines, aircraft , rocket nozzle etc.
Newly developed nanoparticles inhaled to deliver anticancer drugs at lungs
November 18th, 2011Lung diseases and especially lung cancer is growing across the globe and is among the top killer disease. Researchers in various universities and research institutions are looking for a better solution for treating lung cancer that can be effective as well as the treatment can produce minimal toxicities.
Researchers at Rutgers claim to have developed a method for delivering potent anticancer cocktail to lungs using an inhalable porous silica nanoparticle. The inhaled nanoparticle largely remains in the lung as observed by the research team headed by Tamara Minko when tried in animals and small amount of the nanoparticles accumulates in liver and kidneys as well. Â
Researchers choose to develop mesoporous silica nanoparticles for their suitable pore size and for their biocompatibility and anticancer agents doxorubicin and cisplatin were selected for treating cancer as these are the commonly used medicines to treat lung cancer today. In addition to these, researchers also designed siRNA for stopping the development of drug resistance and used silica nanoparticles to deliver these at the site.
New gelatin based nanoparticle dissolves blood clot faster
November 15th, 2011A new technique has been found effective in animals for dissolving blood clot while studying the acute coronary syndrome. Doctors at Nara Medical University in Kashihara, Japan has found that gelatin based nanoparticles could be used to treat chest pain patients while bringing them to hospital.
Treating acute syndrome is one of the challenges before doctors and during the disease the blood flow to the heart reduces and more than one million people in US alone suffers with the disease every year. Quick clot busting therapy can prevent heart attack and death if the blood flow to the heart is quickly restored.
Traditionally the tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) is injected to the patients in hospital through vein or through catheter , however doctors at Nara Medical University found that the tPA if mixed with gelatin and given to patients as nanoparticles, reduces tPA activity. Due to reduced activity of tPA, the bleeding complications minimizes and thus the chance of patient’s survival increases.
In our body, tPA is automatically produced, which prevent blood clotting in normal circumstances by inhibiting certain proteins that form clots and researchers found that the gelatin combined with tPA acts faster in acute syndrome. Scientists tracked the drug using radioactive tPA and analyzed the output in animals and found that after 30 minutes blood flow was restored partially to almost complete.
Manufacturing Unit for Flexible Packaging Material at Kazan opened
November 12th, 2011Danaflex group of companies, opened a new factory where Danaflex-Nano will use the proprietary nanotechnology process to manufacture improved flexible packaging material. Danaflex-Nano is a RUSNANO project and it is expected that the project will require an investment of around 2.45 billion rubles.
On the 10th anniversary of Danaflex, dignitaries from government and board members of Danaflex attended the grand opening ceremony. Flexible packaging is required for day to day job for various products including the packaging of food items, cosmetics, chemicals etc; and the company has the design capacity of forty six thousand tons of the material per annum.
The advantages of this new material are huge and having an excellent film, it will prevent ingress of oxygen and other gases, moisture, dirt dust and other greasy material to the packaged food or chemicals and at the same time it will also prevent the degradation of foodstuff or other material by microorganism and ultraviolet rays.
The factory is equipped with the latest machineries from Windmoeller & Hoelscher, a renowned German company and with the flimex flat-slit extruder, the high barrier polymer films that will be produced using nanotechnology will have as many as 17 layers resulting to outstanding physical and mechanical properties required for a packaging material.
Danaflex with a market share of 12% in flexible packaging is the largest company in Russia and has ambitious plans for the coming years. Â
Nanotechnology in thermoelectric applications
November 9th, 2011Wherever and whenever we use energy, apart of it is wasted in the form of heat and especially in automobiles, the energy used for driving vehicle is less than 30% of the total energy produced by burning fuel. The remaining energy is lost in the form of friction and heat. Researchers now think that to use nanotechnology for better applications so that the energy loss can be minimized.
University of Oslo researchers are looking for collaboration to the scientist at the Foundation of Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF) to develop thermoelectricity, which is a new form of environmental friendly technology and will minimize the waste of power. Currently thermoelectricity is used for limited applications especially in space flight. Solar batteries based probe when travels too far from the sun, life of its batteries shorten and therefore plutonium based probe is the right solution for it.
Team of researchers from the University of Oslo and SINTEF are working together to search a pollution free, inexpensive material that can recover around 15% of the energy, which currently with existing technology is around 10%. Researchers are hopeful to use the nanotechnique to come at the solution. Starting with the use of the new thermoelectric generators, which will be initially used in cars and several manufacturers have already expressed their interest in the technology; and once successful results obtained these will further find applications in refrigerators.
People took interest in exploring nanotechnology at University of Albany
November 7th, 2011Recently a community day at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University of Albany was organized and more than 1200 people of all ages from across the New York State participated in the event. Â The event is known as NANOvember and it is totally deliberated on providing the educational insights to the visitors.
The event included the presentation and discussion on the use and applications of technology for most critical and challenging areas of 21st century and showcased the research in nanotechnology area and the participants were taken a tour to the facilities at the institute including the state of the art cleanroom.
The authorities were delighted with the huge response from people. The administration also hoped that the interest of people across the globe will grow in nanotechnology area and more and more student will pursue higher education in nanotechnology.
The CNSE at University of Albany is dedicated to the research and development in the emerging areas of the nanotechnology such as nanobioscience, nanoeconomics, nanoscience etc and so far more than $12 billions has already been invested. The institute don’t only provide students the excellent facilities for research and education but also provide more than 300 corporate partners, the access to the nanotechnology innovations.
