Nanoscienceinfo

Source: Nanotechwire.com
http://nanotechwire.com/news.asp?nid=5527

A novel approach to synthesizing nanowires (NWs) allows their direct integration with microelectronic systems for the first time, as well as their ability to act as highly sensitive biomolecule detectors that could revolutionize biological diagnostic applications, according to a report in Nature.   “We electronically plugged into the biochemical system of cells,” said senior author Mark Reed, Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering & Applied Science. “These developments have profound implications both for application of nanoscience technologies and for the speed and sensitivity they bring to the future of diagnostics.” (more…)

Nanoscience Instruments introduces a new line of Silicon-Nitride probes for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The new HYDRA series is available world-wide and fills a need in the market for AFM probes specifically designed for imaging soft materials such as biological and polymeric samples. HYDRA probes feature a unique, patent-pending design that combines low stress, silicon-nitride cantilevers with sharp Silicon tips.
Phoenix, AZ, February 13, 2008
Source: Nanoscience Instruements press release/PRWeb
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/02/prweb692324.htm

Nanoscience Instruments today announced the launch of a new line of Silicon-Nitride probes for Atomic Force Microscopes (AFMs). The new HYDRA series is available world-wide and fills a need in the market for AFM probes specifically designed for imaging soft materials such as biological and polymeric samples.  HYDRA series probes feature a unique, patent-pending design that combines low stress, silicon-nitride cantilevers with sharp Silicon tips (radii of less than 10nm). Offered in a variety of spring constants, they are ideal for applications ranging from highly sensitive force curve measurements to soft contact mode and gentle fluid tapping mode experiments. (more…)

Source: PhysOrg.com/ Texas A&M University /Feb 8, 2008
http://www.physorg.com/news121700723.html

Sometimes simpler is better. Engineering researchers at Texas A&M University have developed a new way to produce ultra-thin electricity-conducting wire that is simpler and faster than existing processes.  “Other methods used to produce nanowires use high temperatures and high pressure,” said Subrata Kundu, a post-doctoral researcher in the research group of Hong Liang, an associate professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “This method is much simpler and faster.”
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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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“Power shirt” would harvest energy from physical movement
Atlanta, Feb. 19, 2008
Source: Photontics Online /Georgia Institute of Technology
http://www.photonicsonline.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID
=%7BA1EAAE9B-543F-4792-B859-1A3CC3DBC823%7D&Bucket=Current+Headlines

Nanotechnology researchers are developing the perfect complement to the power tie: a “power shirt” able to generate electricity to power small electronic devices for soldiers in the field, hikers and others whose physical motion could be harnessed and converted to electrical energy.  The February 14 issue of the journal Nature details how pairs of textile fibers covered with zinc oxide nanowires can generate electrical current using the piezoelectric effect. Combining current flow from many fiber pairs woven into a shirt or jacket could allow the wearer’s body movement to power a range of portable electronic devices. The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibration or other mechanical energy.
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Source: Science: Daily, Feb. 19, 2008
Adapted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080219203507.htm

Chemists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have been the first to measure significant amounts of copper incorporated into zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires during fabrication. The issue is important because copper plays a significant–but not well-understood–role in important optical and electrical properties of the nanowires. Previous experiments found only trace amounts of copper.
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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…)

Washington, D.C. – January 28, 2008
Source: US EPA
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/
7acfb14b11808efb852573de006b3f4b?OpenDocument

Americans are famous for building big: the tallest sky scraper, the biggest jet, the widest plasma TV screen. But now U.S. entrepreneurs are considering thinking small. Nanotechnology uses particles 80,000 times smaller than a human hair; yet the new technology has the potential to quickly clean up pollution, cure serious illnesses, and make the computer silicon chip obsolete. While EPA looks forward to new environmental breakthroughs, the Agency’s first commitment is to protect human health and the environment. Therefore EPA has awarded 21 grants totaling $7.34 million to universities to investigate potential adverse health and environmental effects of manufactured nanomaterials.
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Athens, OH, Jan 28, 2008
Source: Photonics Online
http://www.photonicsonline.com/content/news/ article.asp?DocID=%7BAB280A16-831B-4C64-91C0-F34A74A2D496%7D

Scientists have used new optical technologies to observe interactions in nanoscale systems that Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle usually would prohibit, according to a study published recently in the journal Nature.  Researchers conducted experiments with high-powered lasers and quantum dots — artificial atoms that could be the building blocks of nanoscale devices for quantum communication and computing — to learn more about physics at the nanoscale.
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Source: Optics.org  /Feb 8, 2008
http://optics.org/cws/article/research/32820

A project involving Europe’s leading photonics companies and institutions has produced a roadmap that will shape future research funding in nanophotonics.  With contributions from more than 300 experts in the field, the 161-page document is designed to serve as an informed input for future research funding by the European Commission (EC) under its 7th Framework Programme.
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