Nanoscienceinfo

“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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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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Source:  Nanowerk News /February 15, 2008
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=4560.php

Since 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved three new-generation anticancer therapies that target epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein that is greatly overexpressed on certain types of tumors, including some forms of colorectal and lung cancer. For patients with EGFR-positive tumors, these drugs can be lifesavers, but at present, there is no good way to predict who will respond to anti-EGFR therapy. That may change, though, thanks to the development of two quantum dot-based systems that can image EGFR expression in living animals.

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Source: ScienceDaily, Jan. 29, 2008
Adapted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123173149.htm

Quantum dots–tiny, intense, tunable sources of colorful light–are illuminating new opportunities in biomedical research, cryptography and other fields. But these semiconductor nanocrystals also have a secret problem, a kind of nervous tic. They mysteriously tend to “blink” on and off like Christmas tree lights, which can reduce their usefulness.
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Source: Azom.com /Feb 13, 2008
http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=11275

Bayer MaterialScience AG and Bayer Technology Services GmbH will be making their third joint appearance at “nanotech” between February 13 and 15 this year in Tokyo. The world’s largest and most high-profile exhibition for nanotechnology is a key gateway for both Bayer companies to the Japanese market and also the Asia-Pacific market as a whole. “Nanotechnology is developing at a breathtaking pace in this region because it is already being used in a large number of sectors.
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by Solar Industry Staff, 13 February 2008
http://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.969

Spire Corp. has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,306,963, titled “Precision Synthesis of Quantum Dot Nanostructures for Fluorescent and Optoelectronic Devices.” This patent describes a method for designing and synthesizing quantum dot nanoparticles with improved uniformity and size. (more…)

Source: ScienceDaily (Feb. 10, 2008)
Adapted from materials provided by Naval Research Laboratory, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080207153618.htm

Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have successfully produced carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in high yields in bulk solid compositions using commercially available aromatic containing resins. The concentration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and metal nanoparticles can be easily varied within the shaped carbonaceous solid. Carbon nanotube containing fibers and films have also been formulated from the precursor compositions. The potential range of applications is huge, including structure, energy, sensors, separation/filtration, battery, electronic displays, and nanoelectronic devices.
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