Nanoscienceinfo

Exotic materials and cheaper substrates could lead to better photovoltaics.
By Tyler Hamilton, February 06, 2008
Source: MIT TechnologyReview.com
http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20163/

Researchers at McMaster University, in Ontario, say that they have grown light-absorbing nanowires made of high-performance photovoltaic materials on thin but highly durable carbon-nanotube fabric. They’ve also harvested similar nanowires from reusable substrates and embedded the tiny particles in flexible polyester film. Both approaches, they argue, could lead to solar cells that are both flexible and cheaper than today’s photovoltaics.
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By Michael Berger, Nanowerk LLC, February 1, 2008
Source: Nanowerk.com Spotlight
http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=4343.php

The vision of revolutionary bottom-up nanotechnology is based on a concept of molecular assembly technologies where nanoscale materials and structures self-assemble to microscale structures and finally to macroscopic devices and products. We are a long way from realizing this vision but researchers are busily laying the foundation for nanoscale engineering. Assembling nanoscopic components into macroscopic materials is an appealing goal but one of the enormous difficulties lies in bridging approximately six orders of magnitude that separate the nanoscale from the macroscopic world. Until machinery capable of automated and industrial-scale nano-assembly can be built, the parallelism of chemical synthesis and self-assembly is necessary when controlling materials at the nanoscale. (more…)

Tempe, AZ, February 06, 2008
Source: Arizona State Univ. press release
http://asunews.asu.edu/20080206_dnananotech

Scientists at ASU’s Biodesign Institute have developed the world’s first gene detection platform made up entirely from self-assembled DNA nanostructures. The results, appearing in the Jan. 11 issue of the journal Science, could have broad implications for gene chip technology – and also could revolutionize the way in which gene expression is analyzed in a single cell.
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The research uses DNA molecules to arrange carbon nanotubes into a grid that might function as a data storage device or to perform calculations.
By Michael Kanellos, Staff Writer
Source: CNET News.com, February 20, 2008
http://www.news.com/IBM-experimenting-with-DNA-to-build-chips/
2100-1008_3-6231183.html

Will the building block of life become the building block of the semiconductor industry? It’s possible.  Scientists at IBM are conducting research into arranging carbon nanotubes–strands of carbon atoms that can conduct electricity–into arrays with DNA molecules. Once the nanotube array is meticulously constructed, the laboratory-generated DNA molecules could be removed, leaving an orderly grid of nanotubes. The nanotube grid, conceivably, could function as a data storage device or perform calculations. (more…)

Source: Staff, Semiconductor International, Sept 20, 2007
http://www.semiconductor.net/article/CA6480418.html

The Network for Computational Nanotechnology  has received a five-year, $18.25M grant from the National Science Foundation to advance the simulation capabilities of the network. The site, which is based at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.), also offers on-line courses and other information on nanoelectronics, nanomedicine and nanomaterials.    The network interface is the “nanoHUB,” a free, Internet-based gateway used by more than 3,000 national and international researchers and educators every month. In the last 12 months, 5,700 users have run more than 220,000 simulations with 50 available simulation tools. The simulations support creation of new medicines, sensors for homeland security, environmental monitoring and other applications.
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