Jun 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Scientists from 4D-BIOMAP, an ERC research project at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), have developed a new experimental method, based on magneto-active polymers, to study cellular behaviour. These compounds, which consist of a polymeric matrix (e.g., an elastomer) containing magnetic particles (e.g., iron),...
Electrospinning promises major improvements in wearable technology
Jun 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Wearable technology has exploded in recent years. Spurred by advances in flexible sensors, transistors, energy storage, and harvesting devices, wearables encompass miniaturized electronic devices worn directly on the human skin for sensing a range of biophysical and biochemical signals or, as with smart watches, for...
New ‘plug-and-play’ biobatteries use bacterial interactions to generate power for weeks
Jun 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a “plug-and-play” biobattery that lasts for weeks at a time and can be stacked to improve output voltage and current. As our tech needs grow and the Internet of Things increasingly connects our devices...
A sanitizer in the galactic center region
Jun 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) An international group of researchers led by Arnaud Belloche (MPIfR, Bonn, Germany) reports the first identification iso-propanol in interstellar space, a substance which is used as a sanitizer on Earth. Iso-propanol is the largest alcohol detected so far, demonstrating the increasing complexity of members of...
Novel materials and technologies for urban farming
Jun 28, 2022 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Conventional food production, which relies heavily on industrial agriculture and animal husbandry, is putting huge strains on our environment both in terms of land use and sustainability. With a growing sustainability movement around the globe, the concept of urban farming has gained huge popularity for...
Food-packaging system reduces health risks and saves food
Jun 28, 2022 (Nanowerk News) As food costs continue to rise and a global food crisis looms on the horizon, it’s staggering to think that some 30-40% of America’s food supply ends up in landfills, mostly due to spoilage. At the same time, the World Health Organization estimates that foodborne...
A rethink of the building blocks for perovskite solar panels could help mass production
Jun 27, 2022 (Nanowerk News) An original approach to mass-producing low-cost solar cell foundation blocks could lead to the wide adoption of solar panels made from perovskite ink, according to research from the University of Surrey. In the paper published in Scientific Reports ("A route towards the fabrication of large-scale...