Nov 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have developed a highly sensitive detector for identifying molecules via their infrared vibrational “fingerprint”. Published in Nature Communications ("On-chip phonon-enhanced IR near-field detection of molecular vibrations"), this innovative detector converts incident infrared light into ultra-confined "nanolight" in the form of phonon polaritons within the...
Cracking the code of performance degradation in solid oxide cells at the atomic level
Nov 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Dr. Hye Jung Chang and Dr. Kyung Joong Yoon of the Hydrogen Energy Materials Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have announced that they have elucidated the mechanism of the initial degradation phenomenon that triggers the performance drop of high-temperature...
A mechanical metamaterial with novel stretching properties
Nov 15, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Metamaterials are artificial materials that do not occur in nature. Their components function like atoms in conventional materials but have special optical, electrical and magnetic properties. Interaction between the components is crucial to a metamaterial’s functionality. Previously a component could usually interact only with its...
Detecting cancer in urine with nanowire-based micro-ribonucleic acid capture
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Cancer has a high death rate with delayed diagnosis of the disease being one of the main reasons for its fatality. Early diagnosis of cancer is vital to improving patient outcomes and in recent years, the development of diagnostic tools to detect early-stage cancer has...
Nanodiamonds bring new hope for Parkinson’s research with advanced neuronal sensing
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory from Nieder research group, in collaboration with ICVS and iBiMED, are pioneering the use of functionalised nanodiamonds. This innovative approach offers a highly precise method to monitor neuronal activity at the cellular level, advancing our understanding of...
Discarded silk yarn can clean up polluted waterways
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Cornell researchers have developed an elegant and sustainable way to clean up waterways: reusing one waste product to remove another. Led by Larissa Shepherd, M.S. ’13, Ph.D. ’17, assistant professor in the Department of Human Centered Design, in the College of Human Ecology, the team...
Scientists discover laser light can cast a shadow
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Can light itself cast a shadow? It may sound like a philosophical riddle, but researchers have found that under certain conditions, a laser beam can act like an opaque object and cast a shadow. The discovery challenges the traditional understanding of shadows and opens new...
Salt-infused sponge harvests drinking water from desert air and generates solar-powered electricity
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) One-third of the global population lacks access to clean water, with the challenge most severe in arid regions that make up 41% of Earth's land surface. The atmosphere holds vast amounts of untapped water – about 1.3 thousand trillion liters in vapor form. Yet capturing...
Scientists find a new way of entangling light and sound
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk News) For a wide variety of emerging quantum technologies, such as secure quantum communications and quantum computing, quantum entanglement is a prerequisite. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) have now demonstrated a particularly efficient way in which photons can be entangled with...
Deep learning streamlines identification of 2D materials
Nov 14, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers have developed a deep learning-based approach that significantly streamlines the accurate identification and classification of two-dimensional (2D) materials through Raman spectroscopy. In comparison, traditional Raman analysis methods are slow and require manual subjective interpretation. This new method will speed up the development and analysis...