Mar 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Ultrasensitive shortwave infrared photodetectors, which detect a subset of shortwave infrared light wavelengths outside of the visual spectrum, have many potential applications, including night surveillance, navigation during poor weather conditions, fiber optic communications and semiconductor quality control. Shortwave infrared photodetectors have traditionally been made out...
Crocodile skin inspires omnidirectionally stretchable pressure sensors
Mar 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) The development of electronic skin with multiple senses is essential for various fields, including rehabilitation, healthcare, prosthetic limbs, and robotics. One of the key components of this technology is stretchable pressure sensors, which can detect various types of touch and pressure. Recently, a joint team...
Minimizing electric vehicles’ impact on the grid
Mar 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) National and global plans to combat climate change include increasing the electrification of vehicles and the percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources. But some projections show that these trends might require costly new power plants to meet peak loads in the evening when cars...
Understanding how methanogenic bacteria ‘bio-mine’ minerals advances biotechnology
Mar 17, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Pyrite, also known as “fool’s gold,” is an abundant iron sulfide mineral in the Earth’s crust. All organisms need iron and sulfur to grow. Because pyrite does not dissolve in oxygen-free conditions, scientists previously thought that organisms could not use pyrite in the absence of...
New machine learning approach enables to identify One molecule in a billion molecules selectively with graphene sensors
Mar 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Graphene’s 2D nature, single molecule sensitivity, low noise, and high carrier concentration have generated a lot of interest in its application in gas sensors. However, due to its inherent non-selectivity, and huge p-doping in atmospheric air, its applications in gas sensing are often limited to...
3D-printed revolving devices can sense how they are moving
Mar 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Integrating sensors into rotational mechanisms could make it possible for engineers to build smart hinges that know when a door has been opened, or gears inside a motor that tell a mechanic how fast they are rotating. MIT engineers have now developed a way to...
A new control switch could make RNA therapies easier to program
Mar 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Using an RNA sensor, MIT engineers have designed a new way to trigger cells to turn on a synthetic gene. Their approach could make it possible to create targeted therapies for cancer and other diseases, by ensuring that synthetic genes are activated only in specific...
Cut-and-sew method could open pathways to designing 2D materials on demand
Mar 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A new process that lets scientists chemically cut apart and stitch together nanoscopic layers of two-dimensional materials — like a tailor altering a suit — could be just the tool for designing the technology of a sustainable energy future. Researchers from Drexel University, China and...
Perovskite solar cells from the slot die coater
Mar 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) Metal halide perovskites are considered to be a particularly low-cost and promising class of materials for next-generation solar modules. Perovskite solar cells can be produced with coating processes using liquid inks made from precursor materials and various solvents. After coating, the solvents evaporate and the...
Antibody fragment-nanoparticle therapeutic eradicates cancer
Mar 16, 2023 (Nanowerk News) A novel cancer therapeutic, combining antibody fragments with molecularly engineered nanoparticles, permanently eradicated gastric cancer in treated mice, a multi-institutional team of researchers found. The results of the “hit and run” drug delivery system, published in the March issue of Advanced Therapeutics ("Engineered Ultrasmall Nanoparticle...