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Archive for the ‘nanotechnology’ category: Page 233

Apr 25, 2016

Flipping a chemical switch helps perovskite solar cells beat the heat

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, solar power, sustainability

Thin films of crystalline materials called perovskites provide a promising new way of making inexpensive and efficient solar cells. Now, an international team of researchers has shown a way of flipping a chemical switch that converts one type of perovskite into another—a type that has better thermal stability and is a better light absorber.

The study, by researchers from Brown University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could be one more step toward bringing to the mass market.

“We’ve demonstrated a new procedure for making solar cells that can be more stable at moderate temperatures than the perovskite solar cells that most people are making currently,” said Nitin Padture, professor in Brown’s School of Engineering, director of Brown’s Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, and the senior co-author of the new paper. “The technique is simple and has the potential to be scaled up, which overcomes a real bottleneck in perovskite research at the moment.”

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Apr 25, 2016

Engineers Explore How Nanoparticles’ Shape Improves Energy Storage

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, particle physics

Very nice.


Many technologies rely upon nanomaterials that can absorb or release atoms quickly and repeatedly. New work by Jennifer Dionne’s research group provides a first look inside these phase-changing nanoparticles, showing how their shape and crystallinity affect their performance for battery applications.

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Apr 24, 2016

Gene Editing Made Easier, Thanks to Carbon Nanotubes

Posted by in categories: bioengineering, biotech/medical, genetics, nanotechnology

In a new study, researchers detail the culturing and transfecting of cells with genetic material on an array of carbon nanotubes, which appears to overcome the limitations of other gene editing technologies.

Gene editing techniques hold great promise. They allow targeted and specific edits of genes, and have nearly limitless possibilities in the field of medicine.

Which is not to say that they are perfect. These techniques still have a range of limitations, from precision to toxicity. But a new study shows that can be changed.

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Apr 24, 2016

Scientists can now make lithium-ion batteries last a lifetime

Posted by in category: nanotechnology

Who says playing around is a waste of time?

Researchers at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) said that’s exactly what they were doing when they discovered how to increase the tensile strength of nanowires that could be used to make lithium-ion batteries last virtually forever.

Researchers have pursued using nanowires in batteries for years because the filaments, thousands of times thinner than a human hair, are highly conductive and have a large surface area for the storage and transfer of electrons.

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Apr 24, 2016

Can we replicate the human brain? Scientists create nanoscale electronic synapses for neural networks

Posted by in categories: nanotechnology, neuroscience, robotics/AI

Russian scientists have managed to make nanoscale hafnium oxide-based memristors showcase synaptic properties.

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Apr 21, 2016

Meet the Nanomachines That Could Drive a Medical Revolution

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, nanotechnology, particle physics

Nice


A group of physicists recently built the smallest engine ever created from just a single atom. Like any other engine it converts heat energy into movement — but it does so on a smaller scale than ever seen before. The atom is trapped in a cone of electromagnetic energy and lasers are used to heat it up and cool it down, which causes the atom to move back and forth in the cone like an engine piston.

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Apr 20, 2016

These graphene-based nanobots can suck pollutants from our oceans in under an hour

Posted by in categories: food, nanotechnology, robotics/AI

Swarms of graphene-coated nanobots could be our best hope yet of cleaning up the murky oceans, with scientists demonstrating that new microscopic underwater warriors can remove up to 95 percent of lead in wastewater in just 1 hour.

The invention couldn’t have come at a better time, with ocean pollution at an all-time high, much of it stemming from industrial activities such as electronics manufacturing. By 2050, it’s estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans, and waste metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and chromium are affecting the delicate ecological balance that will make things very difficult for any animal that relies on it for food — including humans — in the near future.

Developed by an international team of researchers, the newly developed nanobots have three key components: a graphene oxide exterior to absorb lead (or another heavy metal); a nickel core that enables researchers to control the nanobots’ movement via a magnetic field; and an inner platinum coating that functions as an engine and propels the bots forward via a chemical reaction with hydrogen peroxide.

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Apr 18, 2016

When size matters: Tiny innovations for a better world

Posted by in categories: food, nanotechnology

Some of Israel’s latest nanotechnology startups reveal how they can improve many aspects of life, from public safety to food safety.

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Apr 18, 2016

Quantum computing closer as researchers drive towards first quantum data bus

Posted by in categories: computing, nanotechnology, quantum physics

Australia’s Quantum Data Bus; nice. We’re getting closer and within the next 7 years we will more than likely have quantum in mainstream computing at this rate.


RMIT University researchers have trialled a quantum processor capable of routing quantum information from different locations in a critical breakthrough for quantum computing.

The work opens a pathway towards the “quantum data bus”, a vital component of future quantum technologies.

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Apr 17, 2016

Interesting Energy Animation

Posted by in categories: energy, nanotechnology

Nanotubes can self-assemble to create functional wires.

Research Paper: http://bit.ly/1SdTIVZ

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