Technology Update

Fluorescent dye molecules provide convenient sensing and imaging tools, but so far the number of different analytes that can be simultaneously detected is limited by the low number of fluorophores that can be spectrally distinguished in each measurement. Researchers have now shown how to manipulate the fluorescence lifetimes of these dyes by conjugating them to […]

Thanks to a new technique that is more commonly used in particle physics, researchers in France and Austria say they have observed molecules of water evaporating from a nanodroplet and have analysed how the energy is distributed inside the droplet containing just a small number of molecules. The work will be important for better understanding […]

Alongside the efforts to catalogue material properties, which have yielded vast databases, there is a line of research seeking the universal aspects and general mechanisms behind these properties. Researchers at MIT have now successfully used a mathematical framework described as ‘category theory’ to rigorously map the properties of different carbon nanostructures to 3D-printed macroscale prototypes. […]

Researchers in the US and China are reporting on the first small-molecule fluorescent dye for “near-infrared-II” imaging. The dye, which is rapidly excreted by the body, could be used to image tumours in vivo and for image-guided surgery and therapy…… http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63415 Mouse rapidly excretes NIR-II dye

The nanopores formed when certain photosensitive nanoparticles aggregate in response to light of a certain colour could be exploited as “nanoflasks” in which to perform chemistry experiments, according to new work by researchers in Israel and the US. The nanoflasks, which break up when exposed to light of another colour, could be used to synthesize […]

Researchers at the University of Belgrade in Serbia have made the first graphene-based “condenser” microphone that could work at ultrasonic frequencies. The device, which outperforms state-of-the-art commercial nickel-based microphones over a large part of the acoustic spectrum, could find use in a variety of applications – such as monitoring bats, whales and other animals that […]

Competing research teams are presenting their prototypes at “Futurapolis” in Toulouse, France, this week for the first ever international nanocar race, scheduled for the end of next year. The vehicles, which are just several nanometres in size, will be propelled thanks to short electric pulses, and will speed around a circuit made from gold atoms. […]

A hybrid, solid-state film made up of two non-conventional semiconductors (organic molecules and colloidal nanocrystals) can convert infrared light into visible light at modest light intensities of around just 120 “suns”. This is the new result from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who say that their materials could be used to improve […]

Three-dimensional photonic crystals have stimulated researchers in fundamental photonics, as well as possible applications in optical transistors, computers and other devices. However fabricating these structures with the required alignment between different planes has proved fiendishly challenging. A group in the Netherlands has shown that patterning a planar mask to project correctly onto two perpendicular surfaces […]

A hybrid material made from ultrathin graphite foam (UGF) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) could be an ideal filler for making composite phase change materials (PCMs) that conduct heat better, according to new experiments by researchers in the US, Italy and the Republic of Korea. The composites have a significantly higher thermal conductivity than those without […]

A technique to authenticate the identity of electronic devices using quantum tunnelling has been developed by researchers in the UK. The idea takes a problem in quantum electronics – the extreme sensitivity of the energy levels of a quantum well to its height and breadth – and turns it into an opportunity for creating a […]

Researchers in the Netherlands and Australia have made the first “intelligent” quantum sensor based on the spin of a single electron trapped in a diamond nitrogen-vacancy centre. The device can measure magnetic fields at the very limits allowed by quantum physics, and if made to work at room temperature could be used to rapidly image […]

The most efficient electrically–pumped light-emitting device made from a single atomic layer semiconductor that works at room temperature has been unveiled by researchers at the universities of Manchester and Sheffield in the UK. The device could find applications in flexible optoelectronics such as LEDs, lasers and photodetectors……… http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63281 The device

Inspired by origami, researchers at Donghua University in Shanghai, China, have built self-folding paper from nanosheets of graphene oxide. The new paper bends in response to light or heat, can “walk” and even turn corners. The material could be used in a wide range of applications, including sensing, artificial muscles and robotics…….. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63120 The graphene […]

Light-responsive nanoparticles that can selectively destroy heart muscle cells while leaving nearby healthy cells intact have been designed by researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbour. The new technique could help overcome some of the limitations of catheter ablation – a common treatment for patients with arrhythmia…….. http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/63125 Sparing fibroblasts and vascular cells

Despite the intense focus on graphene research in general, the diffusion properties of droplets on graphene surfaces have been studied relatively little. Now researchers have successfully simulated the diffusion of water nanodroplets on grapheme, and observed unusual and exceedingly fast transport…… http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/62950