NanotechMarketplace.com

High-Resolution Thin-Film Device to Sense Texture by Touch

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:33 +0000

Touch (or tactile) sensors are gaining renewed interest as the level of sophistication in the application of minimum invasive surgery and humanoid robots increases. The spatial resolution of current large-area (greater than 1 cm2) tactile sensor lags by more than an order of magnitude compared with the human finger. By using metal and semi conducting nanoparticles, a 100-nm-thick, large-area thin-film device is self-assembled such that the change in current density through the film and the electroluminescent light intensity are linearly proportional to the local stress. A stress image is obtained by pressing a copper grid and a United States 1-cent coin on the device and focusing the resulting electroluminescent light directly on the charge-coupled device. Both the lateral and height resolution of texture are comparable to the human finger at similar stress levels of 10 kilopascals.
Papers in Nanotechnology

Tungsten Carbide-Cobalt Particles Activate Nrf2 and Its Downstream Target Genes in JB6 Cells Possibly by ROS Generation

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:32 +0000

To elucidate the mechanisms of health hazards of tungsten carbide and metallic cobalt (WC-Co), effects of nano-WC-Co particles on Nrf2 signaling pathway were investigated in this study in a JB6 cell line.
Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology and Oncology, 2010, 29(1): 31-40
International Council on Nanotechnology, Rice University – Virtual Journal

Team’s Work Uses a Virus to Convert Methane to Ethylene

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:31 +0000

The nanoscience-based approach could herald the arrival of a set of new technologies representing a synthesis of molecular biology and industrial chemistry.
NYT > Nanotechnology

Nanoscale imaging technique meets 3-D moviemaking

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:29 +0000

Three-dimensional movies are everywhere these days, and the novelty is poised to become a big-screen mainstay. Now the field of microscopy is getting into the act, too, but the end product is very different from 3-D movies such as Toy Story 3 or Avatar . [More]

Toy Story – Film – Animation – Avatar – Toy Story 3
Scientific American Topic – Nanotechnology

Contaminated Site Remediation: Are Nanomaterials the Answer?

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:27 +0000

A new review article appearing in Environmental Health Perspectives focuses on the use of nanomaterials for environmental cleanup. The authors conclude that the technology could be an effective and economically viable alternative for some current site cleanup practices, but potential risks remain poorly understood.
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Deposition of CTAB-Terminated Nanorods on Bacteria to Form Highly Conducting Hybrid Systems

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:25 +0000

Interaction of nanoparticles with biological systems ranging from biomolecules to biological cells is of importance for a range of applications, such as high-resolution biomedical imaging,1 gene sequencing for molecular diagnostics,2 and sensitive electronic devices.3 In this report, we demonstrate that positively charged cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), which is a stabilizing agent used to synthesize different metal nanoshapes4-7 (such as rods, spheres, cubes, prisms, stars, and hexagons), is an effective nanoparticle coating for self-assembling an electrically percolating monolayer of different nanoshapes on gram-positive bacterium, such as Bacillus cereus. The versatility of CTAB is especially realized for deposition of nanorods, where we observe 4 orders of magnitude larger conductivity compared to that of nanospheres at 3 times smaller area coverage. For the deposition on a “physical surface”, the rods do not form electrically percolating channels.8 Formation of such a percolating-conducting network on bacterium is attributed to high adhesion that overcomes steric interaction (responsible for liquid-crystalline order (see Figure 1a)), leading to random orientation (see Figure 2a). Furthermore, the strong adhesion (evidenced by conformal deposition of a rod causing bending) lowers the contact resistance, leading to 104 increases in conductivity at 13.5% area coverage compared to spheres with 41% area coverage (see Figure 3). This high conductivity is achieved well below the percolation threshold for random structure at 45% area coverage in two dimensions.9 With only ?10% of bacterium surface covered, the microorganism may remain alive for a time longer than that for >40% coverage systems with nanosphere deposition.10 While CTAB alone is toxic to cells, CTAB-coated nanoparticles are nontoxic.11 Electronic coupling between nanorod monolayers with microorganisms can open the possibility of novel hybrid devices utilizing the machinery of the biological system.
Papers in Nanotechnology

Mineralization of Monodispersed CdS Nanoparticles on Polyelectrolyte Superstructure Forming an Electroluminescent “Necklace-of-Beads”

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:23 +0000

We report a nonmicellar method to synthesize monodisperse semiconducting nanoparticles templated on polymer chains dissolved in solution at high yield. The monodispersity is achieved due to the beaded necklace morphology of the polyelectrolyte chains in solution where the beads are nanometer-scale nodules in the polymer chain. The resultant structure is a nanoparticles studded necklace where the particles are imbedded in the beads. Multiple cycles of synthesis on the polymer template yield nanoparticles of identical size, resulting in a nanocomposite with high particle fraction. The resultant nanocomposite has beaded-fibrilar morphology with imbedded nanoparticles and can be solution-casted to make electroluminescent thin film device.
Papers in Nanotechnology

Optimized Method for Preparation of TiO2 Nanoparticles Dispersion for Biological Study

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:21 +0000

The objective of this study was to develop a practical method to prepare a stable dispersion of TiO2 nanoparticles for biological studies. TiO2 (rutile/anatase) dispersions were prepared in distilled water following by treated with different ultrasound energies and various dispersion stabilizers.
Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 10(8): 5213-5219 (August 2010)
International Council on Nanotechnology, Rice University – Virtual Journal

Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles on Live Bacterium: An Avenue to Fabricate Electronic Devices

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:18 +0000

Recently, hybrid structures of microorganisms with inorganic nanoscale moieties have received great interest owing to their potential in fabricating electronic systems. The electronic properties of metal nanoparticles, as a result of the singleelectron transport of current,[1] make them ideal materials for nanodevices. Concomitantly, the nanostructure of microorganisms such as bacteria,[2] viruses,[3, 4] and yeast[5] are attractive scaffolds for the templating of metal nanoparticles through the interactions of the former with surface charges and the affinity of certain metals for specific biological molecules.[2-7] However, the key challenges in building hybrid devices are 1) to pattern nanostructures without destroying the biological construct of the microorganism and 2) to achieve active integration of a biological response to the electrical transport in a nanoparticle device.
Papers in Nanotechnology

Applications of Nanotechnology for Cycling are Not Restricted to Just the Bike

NanotechMarketplace.com — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:43:17 +0000

Applications of Nanotechnology for Cycling are Not Restricted to Just the Bike
Last September I took a cursory look at the use of nanotechnology in bicycles , and drew the somewhat hesitant conclusion that it may be more about marketing than actually improving the qualities of the bike.
Read more on IEEE Spectrum

Research and Markets: Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge: Fundamental Apects of Sustainable Energy Production and …
DUBLIN—-Research and Markets has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd’s new book “Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge” to their offering.
Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance

Using nanotechnology to improve a cancer treatment
(PhysOrg.com) — Harvard and Brigham and Women`s Hospital researchers have devised a method that may allow clinicians to use higher doses of a powerful chemotherapy drug that has been limited because it is toxic not only to tumors but to patients’ kidneys.
Read more on PhysOrg