May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A new method of drug delivery using proline, an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue, could be used to limit the side effects of chemotherapy and repair important enzymes, new research suggests. Published in the journal Chem ("Metal-peptidic cages—Helical oligoprolines generate highly...
Nanoscale engineering brings light-twisting materials to more extreme settings
May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Imaging the hot turbulence of aircraft propulsion systems may now be possible with sturdy sheets of composite materials that twist light beams, according to research led by the University of Michigan and Air Force Research Laboratory. The sheets were produced with a new manufacturing method...
New method makes hydrogen from solar power and agricultural waste
May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Engineers have designed a new method to make hydrogen gas from water using only solar power and agricultural waste, such as manure or husks. The method reduces the energy needed to extract hydrogen from water by 600%, creating new opportunities for sustainable, climate-friendly chemical production....
Squishy magnetic microjoints bend the rules of microrobotics
May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Robotic micromanipulation, which involves robots handling tiny objects, has long been limited by the challenges of integrating rotational joints at microscopic scales. The ability to precisely rotate and orient objects is crucial for complex micromanipulation tasks like cell rotation and industrial microassembly. However, space constraints...
Controlling ion transport for a blue energy future
May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Blue energy has the potential to provide a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. In simple terms, it involves harnessing the energy produced when the ions in a salt solution move from high to low concentrations. A team including researchers from Osaka University has probed the...
The thinnest lens on Earth is only three atoms thick
May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Lenses are used to bend and focus light. Normal lenses rely on their curved shape to achieve this effect, but physicists from the University of Amsterdam and Stanford University have made a flat lens of only three atoms thick which relies on quantum effects. This...
Killing cancer with gold nanoclusters and a trick of the light
May 30, 2024 (Nanowerk News) RIKEN chemists have demonstrated a gold nanocluster system that carries two components of a drug in a controlled ratio for maximum cancer-cell killing effect (Chemical Science, "Clickable bisreactive small gold nanoclusters for preparing multifunctionalized nanomaterials: application to photouncaging of an anticancer molecule"). The active drug...
Plasmonic nanodarts for cancer therapy and antimicrobial treatment
May 29, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Developing multifunctional nanomaterials has been a long-standing goal in the field of biomedical research. Over the years, scientists have explored various strategies to engineer nanostructures that can synergistically combine different properties to address complex medical challenges. However, achieving precise control over the composition, structure, and...
Graphene gets cleaned up
May 29, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Since its discovery in 2004, graphene has been touted for its host of unique properties, which include ultra-high electrical conductivity and remarkable tensile strength. It has the potential to transform electronics, energy storage, sensors, biomedical devices, and more. But graphene has had a dirty little...
Ancient medicine blends with modern-day research in new tissue regeneration method
May 29, 2024 (Nanowerk News) For centuries, civilizations have used naturally occurring, inorganic materials for their perceived healing properties. Egyptians thought green copper ore helped eye inflammation, the Chinese used cinnabar for heartburn, and Native Americans used clay to reduce soreness and inflammation. Flash forward to today, and researchers at...