Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) The word “robot” would probably conjure up images of hard metallic bodies that are invulnerable to attacks. In modern day-to-day life, however, robots are hardly needed for defending against enemy attacks. Instead, they are required to perform more mundane tasks such as handling delicate objects...
Self-assembling and complex, nanoscale mesocrystals can be tuned for a variety of uses
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) A research team from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces report to have found the key to controlled fabrication of cerium oxide mesocrystals (Angewandte Chemie, "Radiation Chemistry Provides Nanoscopic Insights into the Role of Intermediate Phases in CeO2...
Predicting the efficiency of oxygen-evolving electrolysis on the Moon and Mars
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists at The University of Manchester and The University of Glasgow have provided more insight into the possibility of establishing a pathway to generate oxygen for humans to potentially call the Moon or Mars ‘home’ for extended periods of time. Creating a reliable source of...
Self-cleaning bioplastics repel liquid and dirt
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Inspired by the always immaculate lotus leaf, researchers have developed a self-cleaning bioplastic that is sturdy, sustainable and compostable. The innovative plastic developed at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, repels liquids and dirt – just like a lotus leaf – then breaks down rapidly once...
Saturn’s high-altitude winds generate an extraordinary aurorae
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Leicester space scientists have discovered a never-before-seen mechanism fuelling huge planetary aurorae at Saturn. Saturn is unique among planets observed to date in that some of its aurorae are generated by swirling winds within its own atmosphere, and not just from the planet’s surrounding magnetosphere....
Insulation with aerogel: Building lean pays off
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Super-insulating materials such as aerogels are expensive. At the same time, they offer a powerful advantage: the thinner the insulation of a building, the larger its usable area. An Empa research team shows when and where, even today, the use of aerogel is already economically...
Nano-Imaging, a project to develop safe, tissue-specific MRI contrast agents with no side effects
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Ikerbasque professor and scientific director of CIC biomaGUNE Aitziber López-Cortajarena has received one of the prestigious ERC Proof of Concept grants amounting to €150,000 to develop the Nano-imaging project. Professor Cortajarena's project is one of 166 European projects that have secured the support of the...
Scientists develop conceptually new chip of lensless optical traps for lab-on-a-chip
Feb 08, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) have proposed a concept of a new optical bottle-beam trap. The scientists showed that two dielectric micro-bricks could be applied instead of the lens. Unlike its alternatives, in the long...