Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Self-assembling protein molecules are versatile materials for medical applications because their ability to form gels can be accelerated or retarded by variations in pH, as well as changes in temperature or ionic strength. These biomaterials, responsive to physiological conditions, can therefore be easily adapted for...
Strong and elastic, yet degradable: protein-based bioplastics
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) More than eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year—a serious danger for the environment and health. Biodegradable bioplastics could provide an alternative. In the journal Angewandte Chemie ("Biosynthetic Structural Proteins with Super Plasticity, Extraordinary Mechanical Performance, Biodegradability, Biocompatibility and Information...
Researchers create molecule that can pave way for mini-transistors
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have succeeded in developing a simple hydrocarbon molecule with a logic gate function, similar to that in transistors, in a single molecule. The discovery could make electric components on a molecular scale possible in the future. The results are...
Sustainable chemistry based on wood
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Producing materials for solar cells, light-emitting diodes and other organic electronics applications as sustainably as possible: A team from Würzburg's Faculty of Chemistry is working on this. Some hikers carry a small solar power plant with them: a foil is attached to their backpack that...
Fabrication of perovskite solar cells with just a piece of paper? A new method tells you how! (w/video)
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Perovskite semiconductor solar cells are a very exciting photovoltaic technology possessing similar efficiencies to silicon but cast or printed in thin films via liquid inks. A new method that uses a simple sheet of paper to deposit the perovskite films that does without any expensive...
speed of sound used to measure elasticity of materials
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the University of Nottingham have devised a revolutionary new technique for measuring the microscopic elasticity of materials for the first time. Known as SRAS, the technology works by measuring the speed of sound across the material’s surface (Acta Materalia, "Measurement of the single...
Powering electronic skins with wearable microbial fuel cells
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Human skin can be considered as a performance benchmark for the development of artificial tactile systems. Important considerations for the development of electronic skin (e-skin) are the choice of materials used in its fabrication and the ability to confer the mechanical properties of human skin...
A new way to shape a material’s atomic structure with ultrafast laser light
Feb 15, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Thermoelectric materials convert heat to electricity and vice versa, and their atomic structures are closely related to how well they perform. Now researchers have discovered how to change the atomic structure of a highly efficient thermoelectric material, tin selenide, with intense pulses of laser light....
Disorder-engineered inorganic nanocrystals set a new efficiency record for ultrathin solar cells
Feb 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Displayed over roof tops and in solar farms, silicon-based solar cells are, so far, one of the most efficient systems in generating electricity from sunlight, but their fabrication can be expensive and energy demanding, aside from being heavy and bulky. The alternative solution of lower-cost...
A potent and economical anti-cancer therapeutic
Feb 14, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Nanoparticles, or particles whose size varies between 1 and 100 nanometers, have shown tremendous potential in many areas of science and technology, including therapeutics. However, conventional, synthetic nanoparticles are complicated and expensive to produce. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), which have emerged as an alternative option to...