http://phys.org/nanotech-news/nano-materials/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on nanomaterials, nanotechnology, nanotech and nanoscience. (Phys.org) —A team of researchers headed by Professor Raffaele Mezzenga has created a hybrid material out of gold and milk proteins that looks like a wafer-thin gold leaf. Thanks to its properties, it could be used in a vast range of applications from gastronomy to the jewellery industry. http://phys.org/news290754074.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:01:23 EST news290754074 (Phys.org) —Waste from textile and paint industries often contains organic dyes such as methylene blue as pollutants. Photocatalysis is an efficient means of reducing such pollution, and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) catalyzes this degradation. Researchers from Bangalore, India, led by C. N. R. Rao now report no less than four methods to produce nanosheets made of very few layers of MoO3. This material is more efficient as a photocatalyst than bulk MoO3, they write in Chemistry—An Asian Journal. http://phys.org/news290673225.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:34:10 EST news290673225 (Phys.org) —Researchers at Rice University have come up with a new way to boost the efficiency of the ubiquitous lithium ion (LI) battery by employing ribbons of graphene that start as carbon nanotubes. http://phys.org/news290355960.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:26:10 EST news290355960 (Phys.org) —Cheaper clean-energy technologies could be made possible thanks to a new discovery. Research team members led by Raymond Schaak, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, have found that an important chemical reaction that generates hydrogen from water is effectively triggered—or catalyzed—by a nanoparticle composed of nickel and phosphorus, two inexpensive elements that are abundant on Earth. The results of the research will be published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://phys.org/news290353050.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:37:43 EST news290353050 Scientists at Aalto University and Utrecht University have created single atom contacts between gold and graphene nanoribbons. http://phys.org/news290329137.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:59:09 EST news290329137 (Phys.org) —Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are the most efficient and environmentally friendly light bulbs on the market. But they come at a higher up-front price than other bulbs, especially the ones with warmer and more appealing hues. http://phys.org/news290328755.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:54:30 EST news290328755 (Phys.org) —Think about windows coated with transparent film that absorbs harmful ultraviolet sunrays and uses them to generate electricity. Consider a water filtration membrane that blocks viruses and other microorganisms from water, or an electric car battery that incorporates a coating to give it extra long life between charges. http://phys.org/news290251200.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:20:18 EST news290251200 (Phys.org) —Wonder material graphene can be made magnetic and its magnetism switched on and off at the press of a button, opening a new avenue towards electronics with very low energy consumption. http://phys.org/news290242663.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:57:53 EST news290242663 Using star-shaped block co-polymer structures as tiny reaction vessels, researchers have developed an improved technique for producing nanocrystals with consistent sizes, compositions and architectures – including metallic, ferroelectric, magnetic, semiconductor and luminescent nanocrystals. The technique relies on the length of polymer molecules and the ratio of two solvents to control the size and uniformity of colloidal nanocrystals. http://phys.org/news290183014.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 11 Jun 2013 15:27:49 EST news290183014 Scientists at Rice University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have advanced on the goal of two-dimensional electronics with a method to control the growth of uniform atomic layers of molybdenum disulfide (MDS). http://phys.org/news290087881.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:58:08 EST news290087881 In a new study, published in Science May 31, 2013, Columbia Engineering researchers demonstrate that graphene, even if stitched together from many small crystalline grains, is almost as strong as graphene in its perfect crystalline form. This work resolves a contradiction between theoretical simulations, which predicted that grain boundaries can be strong, and earlier experiments, which indicated that they were much weaker than the perfect lattice. http://phys.org/news289219773.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Fri, 31 May 2013 11:49:43 EST news289219773 Bed bugs now need to watch their step. Researchers at Stony Brook University have developed a safe, non-chemical resource that literally stops bed bugs in their tracks. This innovative new technology acts as a man-made web consisting of microfibers 50 times thinner than a human hair which entangle and trap bed bugs and other insects. This patent-pending technology is being commercialized by Fibertrap, a private company that employs non-toxic pest control methods. http://phys.org/news289214456.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Fri, 31 May 2013 10:21:08 EST news289214456 (Phys.org) —Inspired by the way plants grow toward light sources, a phenomenon known as phototropism, bioengineers from the University of California, Berkeley have created a hydrogel that could be manipulated by light. http://phys.org/news289057976.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 29 May 2013 14:54:15 EST news289057976 (Phys.org) —A new version of solar cells created by laboratories at Rice and Pennsylvania State universities could open the door to research on a new class of solar energy devices. http://phys.org/news289030733.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 29 May 2013 07:19:01 EST news289030733 What may be the ultimate heat sink is only possible because of yet another astounding capability of graphene. The one-atom-thick form of carbon can act as a go-between that allows vertically aligned carbon nanotubes to grow on nearly anything. http://phys.org/news288973811.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 28 May 2013 15:30:33 EST news288973811 (Phys.org) —Using the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron, researchers have discovered a way to create cheaper fuel cells by dividing normally expensive platinum metal into nanoparticles (or even single atoms) for use in everything from automobiles to computers. http://phys.org/news288540296.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 23 May 2013 15:05:04 EST news288540296 (Phys.org) —In pioneering new research at Columbia University, scientists have grown high-quality crystals of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), the world's thinnest semiconductor, and studied how these crystals stitch together at the atomic scale to form continuous sheets. Through beautiful images of strikingly symmetric stars and triangles hundreds of microns across, they have uncovered key insights into the optical and electronic properties of this new material, which can be either conducting or insulating to form the basic "on-off switch" for all digital electronics. The study is published in the May 5, 2013, issue of Nature Materials. http://phys.org/news288457445.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 22 May 2013 16:04:19 EST news288457445 (Phys.org) —Researchers have created a new type of transparent electrode that might find uses in solar cells, flexible displays for computers and consumer electronics and future "optoelectronic" circuits for sensors and information processing. http://phys.org/news288455347.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 22 May 2013 15:29:14 EST news288455347 (Phys.org) —Imagine a bendable tablet computer or an electronic newspaper that could fold to fit in a pocket. http://phys.org/news288282505.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 20 May 2013 15:28:34 EST news288282505 These days, aerospace engineering is all about the light stuff: building airplanes with lighter wings, fuselage and landing gear in an effort to reduce fuel costs. http://phys.org/news288261101.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 20 May 2013 09:31:50 EST news288261101 One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when you make things extremely small—one nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair—they are going to become more perfect. http://phys.org/news288171951.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Sun, 19 May 2013 13:00:05 EST news288171951 Nearly everyone is familiar with the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), otherwise known as Teflon, the brand name used by the chemical company DuPont. Famous for being "non-sticky" and water repellent, PTFE is a dry lubricant used on machine components everywhere, from kitchen tools and engine cylinders to space and biomedical applications. http://phys.org/news287996669.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Fri, 17 May 2013 08:50:03 EST news287996669 Frustration led to revelation when Rice University scientists determined how graphene might be made useful for high-capacity batteries. http://phys.org/news287937899.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 16 May 2013 15:45:32 EST news287937899 Scientists have identified nanostructures in the ultra-black skin markings of an African viper which they said Thursday could inspire the quest to create the ultimate light-absorbing material. http://phys.org/news287922916.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 16 May 2013 11:50:01 EST news287922916 Inspired by the structure of moth eyes, researchers at North Carolina State University have developed nanostructures that limit reflection at the interfaces where two thin films meet, suppressing the "thin-film interference" phenomenon commonly observed in nature. This can potentially improve the efficiency of thin-film solar cells and other optoelectronic devices. http://phys.org/news287918613.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Thu, 16 May 2013 10:23:40 EST news287918613 (Phys.org) —Among its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Yet other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental engineers have sought to disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water using nanoscale particles of these active materials. Engineers call them nanoscavengers. The hitch from a technical standpoint is that it is nearly impossible to reclaim the nanoscavengers once in the water. http://phys.org/news287845112.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 15 May 2013 14:07:06 EST news287845112 Writing in Nature, a large international team led Dr Roman Gorbachev from The University of Manchester shows that, when graphene placed on top of insulating boron nitride, or 'white graphene', the electronic properties of graphene change dramatically revealing a pattern resembling a butterfly. http://phys.org/news287825197.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Wed, 15 May 2013 13:00:04 EST news287825197 (Phys.org) —Alloys like bronze and steel have been transformational for centuries, yielding top-of-the-line machines necessary for industry. As scientists move toward nanotechnology, however, the focus has shifted toward creating alloys at the nanometer scale—producing materials with properties unlike their predecessors. http://phys.org/news287754606.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Tue, 14 May 2013 12:50:17 EST news287754606 (Phys.org) —Most Americans want the U.S. to place more emphasis on developing solar power, recent polls suggest. A major impediment, however, is the cost to manufacture, install and maintain solar panels. Simply put, most people and businesses cannot afford to place them on their rooftops. http://phys.org/news287666861.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 13 May 2013 12:28:39 EST news287666861 (Phys.org) —Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have uncovered the characteristics of a low-resistance electrical contact to strontium titanate, SrTiO3, an important prototypical oxide semiconductor. Oxides are likely to be important materials in next-generation electronic devices, and they need to be extremely small. Getting electrical signals into and out of oxide semiconductors is hard because a large energy barrier typically develops at the junction with metal contacts. Metal contacts are required to get electricity into and out of a semiconductor device in much the same way that jumper cables are needed to transfer power from a healthy car battery to a dead battery. This work shows how to eliminate this barrier while keeping the contact area extremely small, at the nanometer level. http://phys.org/news287650346.html Nanotechnology - Nanomaterials Mon, 13 May 2013 07:52:35 EST news287650346