https://phys.org/nanotech-news/ en-us Nanotechnology. The latest news on nanoscience, nanoelectronics, science and technology. Updated Daily. A team of researchers from NIMS (National Institute for Materials Science), Hokkaido University and Meiji Pharmaceutical University has developed a gel electret capable of stably retaining a large electrostatic charge. The team then combined this gel with highly flexible electrodes to create a sensor capable of perceiving low-frequency vibrations (e.g., vibrations generated by human motion) and converting them into output voltage signals. This device may potentially be used as a wearable health care sensor. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-power-generating-gel-electret-based.html Nanomaterials Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:16:11 EDT news638104568 A laboratory-grown mini liver model uniquely created with liver cells and a synthetic nanoscaffold has shown to be effective in mimicking the liver, promising a new and more effective testing method for medicines that is more ethical than animal testing. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-mini-liver-effective-drug.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:44 EDT news638099257 Researchers at the National Graphene Institute have made a discovery that could revolutionize energy harnessing and information computing. Their study, published in Nature, reveals how electric field effects can selectively accelerate coupled electrochemical processes in graphene. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-electric-fields-boost-graphene-potential.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:50:04 EDT news638016601 A research team led by Prof. Wu Zhengyan and Zhang Jia from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new environmentally friendly way to deliver pesticides using porous microspheres made of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs). https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fabricate-eco-friendly-pesticide-delivery.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:44:32 EDT news638012670 Conventional drug delivery is often like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer. Whether the drug is swallowed, injected, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, it ultimately diffuses to most parts of the body, including those where it isn't needed—or where it might even cause harm. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ultrasound-triggers-nanodroplets-drugs.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 19 Jun 2024 00:10:02 EDT news637940154 A team of medical researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and ReCode Therapeutics has developed a way to send gene-editing tools to the lungs to repair the faulty gene associated with cystic fibrosis. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-lung-lipid-nanoparticles-crispr-components.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:40:01 EDT news637921664 An international research team used a common amino acid, tyrosine, packaged as a nanomedicine, to change the metabolism of melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, and prevent cancer growth. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-tyrosine-nanomedicine-halt-melanoma.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 18 Jun 2024 09:09:03 EDT news637920541 Fingerprint detection is one of the most important techniques in forensic investigation. When fingerprints are dusted with a carbon-based powder, the material will adhere to the moisture and grease left behind by the unique patterns of ridges and valleys on the perpetrator's fingertip. The resulting pattern can then be analyzed under a microscope, and compared with suspects' fingerprints. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-fingerprint-carbon-coated-nanoparticles.html Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Jun 2024 13:17:03 EDT news637849022 A new method in spectromicroscopy significantly improves the study of chemical reactions at the nanoscale, both on surfaces and inside layered materials. Scanning X-ray microscopy (SXM) at MAXYMUS beamline of BESSY II enables the investigation of chemical species adsorbed on the top layer (surface) or intercalated within the MXene electrode (bulk) with high chemical sensitivity. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-mxenes-energy-storage-chemical-imaging.html Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:13:03 EDT news637845181 A new nonlinear optical property of tiny particles has been discovered by an international team of scientists led by physicists at the University of Bath, with important implications for researchers working in fields as diverse as display technology, chemical catalysis and medicine. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-physicists-optical-property-tiny-helices.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:53:04 EDT news637840382 Griffith University researchers have developed innovative, eco-friendly quantum materials that can drive the transformation of methanol into ethylene glycol. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-quantum-material-eco-friendly-methanol.html Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:14:49 EDT news637838087 A research group led by Prof. Cao Liang from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, has introduced an additional translational degree of freedom in layered transition metal dichalcogenide crystals, enabling fine-tuning of their physical properties. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-method-fine-tune-properties-layered.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Jun 2024 09:49:03 EDT news637836542 Layers of carbon atoms in a honeycomb array are a true supermaterial: their unusually high conductivity and favorable mechanical properties could further the development of bendable electronics, new batteries, and innovative composite materials for aeronautics and space flight. However, the development of elastic and tough films remains a challenge. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-method-links-graphene-nanolayers-tougher.html Nanomaterials Fri, 14 Jun 2024 11:00:50 EDT news637581648 Researchers from Tohoku University and Kyoto University have successfully developed a DNA-based molecular controller that autonomously directs the assembly and disassembly of molecular robots. This pioneering technology marks a significant step towards advanced autonomous molecular systems with potential applications in medicine and nanotechnology. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-disassembling-swarm-molecular-robots-dna.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Fri, 14 Jun 2024 09:53:59 EDT news637577636 SMU nanotechnology expert MinJun Kim and his team have developed a faster, more precise way to detect the properties and interactions of individual proteins crucial in rapid, accurate, and real-time monitoring of virus-cell interactions. This could pave the way for innovative medical therapies and advancements to be created using gene therapy—a technique that utilizes harmless viruses to modify a person's genes to treat or cure disease. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-tool-protein-interactions-avenues-gene.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 13 Jun 2024 11:30:04 EDT news637497001 Researchers have engineered nanosized cubes that spontaneously form a two-dimensional checkerboard pattern when dropped on the surface of water. The work, published in Nature Communications, presents a simple approach to create complex nanostructures through a technique called self-assembly. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-nanosized-blocks-spontaneously-tiny-checkerboards.html Nanomaterials Thu, 13 Jun 2024 10:33:03 EDT news637493581 Researchers at Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University report in Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X a novel approach for detecting a particular biomolecule associated with several diseases. The results show good sensitivity and selectivity, and may lead to the development of a low-cost, rapid detection device useful in cancer prognosis. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-electrochemical-biosensor-cancer-prognosis.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 13 Jun 2024 10:11:03 EDT news637492261 Adoptive T-cell therapy has revolutionized medicine. A patient's T-cells—a type of white blood cell that is part of the body's immune system—are extracted and modified in a lab and then infused back into the body, to seek and destroy infection, or cancer cells. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-nanowires-elite-warriors-cell-therapy.html Bio & Medicine Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Jun 2024 16:03:22 EDT news637426999 Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed microscopic robots, known as microrobots, capable of swimming through the lungs to deliver cancer-fighting medication directly to metastatic tumors. This approach has shown promise in mice, where it inhibited the growth and spread of tumors that had metastasized to the lungs, thereby boosting survival rates compared to control treatments. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-microrobots-cancer-drugs-metastatic-lung.html Bio & Medicine Wed, 12 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news637402022 A study published in Nano Letters demonstrates the use of quantum dots to create metasurfaces, enabling two objects to exist in the same space. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-method-quantum-dots-metasurfaces-luminescence.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:23:06 EDT news637410183 Flexible piezoelectric sensors are essential to monitor the motions of both humans and humanoid robots. However, existing designs are either costly or have limited sensitivity. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-electrospun-nanofibers-flexible-piezoelectric-sensors.html Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Jun 2024 10:54:44 EDT news637408481 Researchers from the Laboratory for Theory and Simulation of Materials at EPFL in Lausanne, part of the NCCR MARVEL, have used computational methods to identify what could be the thinnest possible metallic wire, as well as several other unidimensional materials with properties that could prove interesting for many applications. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-chain-copper-carbon-atoms-thinnest.html Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Jun 2024 12:06:03 EDT news637326361 Bacterial biofilm infections are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among patients with cystic fibrosis or those with weakened immune systems. Treatment for biofilm infections usually entails intensive antibiotic therapy. There is an urgent need for well-designed agents to achieve in vivo diagnosis and precise anti-biofilm therapy without bacterial resistance. Unfortunately, no effective agent has been designed to perform these tasks adequately. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-lanthanide-nanohybrids-pulmonary-biofilm-infections.html Bio & Medicine Tue, 11 Jun 2024 09:39:48 EDT news637317584 When molecules are irradiated with infrared light, they begin to vibrate due to the energy supply. For Andreas Hauser from the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), this well-known phenomenon was the starting point for considering whether these oscillations could also be used to generate magnetic fields. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-nanomagnets-infrared-lasers.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Jun 2024 09:24:03 EDT news637316641 The selective bond-breaking powers of enzymes bring new versatility for building nanoparticles with a wide range of technical and medical potential. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-technique-enzymes-versatile-nanoparticles.html Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Jun 2024 09:16:04 EDT news637316161 A team of chemists at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, working with a pair of colleagues from the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research, both in India, has found that particles of minerals sometimes break down spontaneously when immersed in charged microdroplets, leading to the formation of nanoparticles. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-chemists-spontaneous-nanoparticle-formation-microdroplets.html Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Jun 2024 09:06:06 EDT news637315555 Two doses of allergen-encapsulating nanoparticles delivered intravenously prevented anaphylaxis during a food allergy test in mice, according to a study led by University of Michigan researchers. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-nanoparticles-reprogram-mouse-immune-cope.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 10 Jun 2024 13:04:18 EDT news637243454 Researchers have for the first time demonstrated that a specific class of oxide membranes can confine, or "squeeze," infrared light—a finding that holds promise for next generation infrared imaging technologies. The thin-film membranes confine infrared light far better than bulk crystals, which are the established technology for infrared light confinement. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-infrared.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:03:10 EDT news637236187 When compressed, nanoribbons of titanium and sulfur can change properties dramatically, turning into materials with the ability to conduct electricity without losing energy, according to a study published in the journal Nano Letters. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-compressed-titanium-sulfur-nanoribbons-transmit.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Mon, 10 Jun 2024 10:27:38 EDT news637234055 RNA droplets can now be used to perform logical operations that take microRNA sequences as inputs, report scientists from Tokyo Tech. By self-assembling into network-like structures, RNA molecules form liquid-state droplets. These RNA droplets disperse only when the correct microRNA sequences are present by performing the logical AND operation. This innovative strategy could pave the way to advances in biomolecular sensing, artificial cells, and computational biodevices. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-untapped-power-logical-rna-droplets.html Bio & Medicine Fri, 07 Jun 2024 11:34:28 EDT news636978864