Mar 06, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Rice University materials scientist Boris Yakobson and collaborators uncovered a property of ferroelectric 2D materials that could be exploited as a feature in future devices. Because they bend in response to an electrical stimulus, single-layer ferroelectric materials can be controlled to act as a nano-scale...
Complex oxides could power the computers of the future
Mar 07, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The development of classic silicon-based computers is approaching its limits. To achieve further miniaturization and to reduce energy consumption, different types of materials and architectures are required. Tamalika Banerjee, Professor of Spintronics of Functional Materials at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen,...
A wholly sustainable plastics economy is feasible
Mar 07, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Plastic is everywhere. Our society cannot do without it: plastics have numerous advantages, are extremely versatile, and are also cost effective. Today, plastics are mainly produced from crude oil. When the products reach the end of their life, they often end up in a waste...
Researchers call for better nanowaste management
Mar 07, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Waste containing nanomaterials – or nanowaste – is an emerging safety concern worldwide, requiring environmentally sound management and regulation that still need to be established. Researchers at the University of Fribourg point out the gaps and provide first solutions for guidance. Nanowaste includes manufacturing waste...
How to distinguish single-particle and pair currents
Mar 07, 2023 (Nanowerk News) If you cool down low-density atomic gas to ultralow temperatures (−273 °C), you get a new state of matter called the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC). A BEC has strongly coupled two-atom molecules behaving like a collective wave following quantum mechanics. Now if you reduce the pairing...
Smart microscopy works out where to take the picture
Mar 07, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Is it possible to know exactly where to point a microscope in order to capture the precise moment a bacterium or a virus infects a cell? In order to take high resolution microscopic images of living biological material, you need to know exactly where to...
Highly-efficient, non-toxic method to upcycle single-use plastic into nanomaterials
Mar 07, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A team of researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi has developed a single-step, organic solvent-free, hydrothermal process to convert polyethylene-based plastic bags and polypropylene-based surgical masks into carbon dots. An estimated 26,000 metric tons of pandemic-related plastic waste—from medical waste to online shopping packaging—have been released...
Astronomers detect radio recombination lines of carbon/oxygen ions for first time
Mar 06, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A research team from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has detected radio recombination lines (RRLs) of ions heavier than helium for the first time, using the TianMa 65-m Radio Telescope (TMRT). These lines were assigned to carbon and/or oxygen...
Researchers fabricate novel flexible supercapacitors on paper
Mar 06, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Wearable devices such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, and virtual reality headsets are becoming commonplace. They are powered by flexible electronics that consist of electrodes with plastic or metal foil as substrates. However, both of these come with their own drawbacks. Plastics suffer from poor adhesion...
Purification of DNA nanostructures from hydrophobic aggregates
Mar 06, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Researchers in Japan have developed a new method for purifying cholesterol-modified DNA nanostructures that could be used to functionalize molecular robot bodies (lipid vesicles). The study was a collaboration between Yusuke Sato of Kyushu Institute of Technology and Shin-ichiro M. Nomura of the Tohoku University,...