Jan 06, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Enzymes are biology’s catalytic workhorses, binding molecules together, splitting them apart and reconfiguring them in processes vital to everything from digestion to breathing. Their availability, efficiency and specificity have long made them popular for reactions outside biological systems as well, including those involved in food...
Engineered adhesion makes programmed self-assembly of bacteria possible
Jan 06, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have reported the programmed self-assembly of bacterial populations by engineered adhesion. The study was published in Nature Chemical Biology ("Programmable living assembly of materials by bacterial adhesion"). Engineered living materials...
A novel strategy for sustainable post-lithium-ion batteries
Jan 06, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists at the Bristol Composites Institute have developed a novel controllable unidirectional ice-templating strategy which can tailor the electrochemical performances of next-generation post-lithium-ion batteries with sustainability and large-scale availability. The paper is published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials ("Ice-Templated, Sustainable Carbon Aerogels with Hierarchically...
Smart materials generate electricity and support temperature regulation through cooling
Jan 06, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Miniaturized electronic devices worn on the body, so-called wearables, check vital functions, count steps or provide information about traffic and weather. In order to continuously supply these technical companions with power, researchers at Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT), together with a team from...
Cotton, PLA-phytochemical encapsulated nanofiber-based face mask for combating the spread of COVID-19 infections
Jan 06, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) The fateful origin of the Covid-19 pandemic since the beginning of 2020 has taken a heavy toll on human lives and health with more than 280 million infections and more than 5.4 million deaths reported worldwide as of late December 2021 (as per WHO Coronavirus...
Decoding protein assembly dynamics with artificial protein needles
Jan 06, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Protein assembly is essential for the formation of ordered biological structures, but imagine engineering one. This is exactly what researchers at Tokyo Tech have now accomplished with protein needles. By regulating the tip-to-tip interactions of these needles, they allowed for their self-assembly into lattice structures,...
Windows that outsmart the elements
Jan 05, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Homeowners know that the type of windows in a house contribute greatly to heating and cooling efficiency. And that’s a big deal—maintaining indoor temperatures consumes great amounts of energy and accounts for 20 to 40 percent of the national energy budgets in developed countries. New...
Researchers find whimsy at the nanoscale
Jan 05, 2022 (Nanowerk News) At extremely small scales, looks can be deceiving. While at first glance you might see lily pads floating on a tranquil pond, this image is actually a clever adaptation of a snapshot taken on a scanning electron microscope. In reality, the green spots are only...
3D digital holograms on smartphones?
Jan 05, 2022 (Nanowerk News) 3D holograms, previously seen only in science fiction movies, may soon make their way into our daily lives. Until now, 3D holograms based on phase shifting holography method could be captured using a large, specialized camera with a polarizing filter. However, a Korean research group...
Suppressing the Auger recombination process in quantum dots
Jan 05, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A Quantum Dot (QD) is a nanometer-sized semiconductor nanocrystal that has unique optical properties such as the ability to emit light in the range of optical frequencies depending on its size. QDs have already been applied to practical optoelectronic applications including light-emitting displays, solar cells,...