Metallenes are atomically thin metals whose unique properties make them extremely promising for nanoscale applications. However, their extreme thinness makes them also flimsy.
Category: nanotechnology – Page 5
Observing ultrafast magnetic domain changes at the nanoscale with soft X-rays
Scientists at the Max Born Institute have developed a new soft X-ray instrument that can reveal dynamics of magnetic domains on nanometer length and picosecond time scales. By bringing capabilities once exclusive to X-ray free-electron lasers into the laboratory, the work paves the way for routine investigations of ultrafast processes of emergent textures in magnetic materials and beyond.
A dropped fridge magnet offers a simple glimpse into a complex physical phenomenon: although it appears undamaged on the outside, its holding force can weaken because its internal magnetic structure has reorganized into countless tiny regions with opposing magnetization, so-called magnetic domains.
These nanoscale textures are central to modern magnetism research, but observing them at very short time scales has long required access to large-scale X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facilities.
Nanowires: a new pathway to nanotechnology-based applications
The synthesis and the characterisation of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) have recently attracted great attention due to their potential applications in electronics and photonics. As yet, there are no practical uses of nanowires, except for research purposes, but certain properties and characteristics of nanowires look very promising for the future.
How Nanowires Work
In the next section, we’ll look at the ways scientists can grow nanowires from the bottom up.
Looking at the Nanoscale.
A nanoscientist’s microscope isn’t the same kind that you’ll find in a high school chemistry lab. When you get down to the atomic scale, you’re dealing with sizes that are actually smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Instead, a nanoscientist could use a scanning tunneling microscope or an atomic force microscope. Scanning tunneling microscopes use a weak electric current to probe the scanned material. Atomic force microscopes scan surfaces with an incredibly fine tip. Both microscopes send data to a computer, which assembles the information and projects it graphically onto a monitor.
Phages Carrying Silver Nanoparticles Could Combat Antibiotic Resistance
In a recent study, Bagchi and her colleagues discovered that together, silver nanoparticles scaffolded onto phages killed bacteria more potently than either component alone.
This suggests that the conjugates may be a new, promising weapon in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
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In a recent study, researchers wanted to “take advantage of both worlds,” said Damayanti Bagchi, a material chemist who led the work as a postdoctoral researcher in Irene Chen’s laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles.1 For the first time, Bagchi and her colleagues synthesized silver nanoparticles using phages called M13, which they also used as a scaffold for the nanoparticles. The silver particle and M13 phage conjugate killed bacteria more effectively than each component alone. The conjugate also slowed down the development of bacterial resistance. This work, published in Langmuir, expands researchers’ arsenal of weapons in their fight against antibiotic resistance.
“This is quite new, using phages as scaffolds [for silver nanoparticles]. I find it very exciting,” said Timea Fernandez, a biochemist at Winthrop University who was not involved in the study.
Argon ion treatment increases carbon nanowall electrode capacitance fivefold
Researchers from Skoltech, MIPT, and the RAS Institute of Nanotechnology of Microelectronics have achieved a five-fold increase in the capacitance of carbon nanowalls, a material used in the electrodes of supercapacitors. These are auxiliary energy storage devices used in conjunction with conventional accumulators in electric cars, trains, port cranes, and other systems.
A key characteristic of these devices, the capacitance of carbon nanowalls could be enhanced by treatment with an optimal dose of high-energy argon ions. The research is published in Scientific Reports.
Chameleon-like nanomaterial can adapt its color to mechanical strain
Inspired by the Japanese art of kirigami, a team of scientists from the University of Amsterdam have developed a material that can reflect different colors of light, depending on how it is stretched. The results were recently published in the journal ACS Photonics.
Similar to its perhaps better-known cousin origami—the Japanese art of folding paper—kirigami is an art form in which paper is both folded and cut. The jaw-dropping three-dimensional designs that kirigami artists create, inspired a team of physicists from the University of Amsterdam to design an equally spectacular type of material: one that smoothly changes its color when it is stretched.
New quantum device operates at room temperature for stable qubits
Stanford University researchers say they have developed a nanoscale optical device that could shift the direction of quantum communication.
Unlike today’s quantum computers that operate near absolute zero, this new approach works at room temperature.
The device entangles the spin of photons and electrons, which is essential for transmitting and processing quantum information.
Silver nanoparticles built on viral biotemplate kill more bacteria and slow resistance rise
Antibiotics are no longer able to treat infections as effectively as they once did because many pathogens have developed resistance to these drugs. This phenomenon, known as antimicrobial resistance (AMR), claims over a million lives worldwide each year.
Scientists have long been searching for treatments to overcome AMR, and a discovery by researchers at the University of California takes a significant step forward. The team has developed a new type of silver nanoparticle (AgNP) that is much more effective against harmful bacteria and significantly slows the rise of antibiotic resistance.
The AgNP was designed with M13 phage—a rod-shaped virus that infects E. coli bacteria—as the biological template for particle growth, resulting in a potency 30 times higher than that of commercially purchased silver nanoparticles.
Smart material instantly changes colors on demand for use in textiles and consumer products
Scientists have developed a revolutionary technique for creating colors that can change on command. These are structural colors that don’t rely on dyes or pigments and can be used for display signage, adaptive camouflage and smart safety labels, among other applications.
Structural colors are not created by pigments or dyes but are colorless arrangements of physical nanostructures. When light waves hit these nanostructures, they interfere with one another. Some waves cancel each other out (they are absorbed) while the rest are reflected (or scattered) back to our eyes, giving us the color we see.
Structural color systems can be engineered to reflect multiple colors from the same colorless material. This is different from pigments, which absorb light and reflect only one color—red pigments reflect red, blue pigments reflect blue and so on.