Dec 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Scientists in South Korea have developed swarms of tiny magnetic robots that work together like ants to achieve Herculean feats, including traversing and picking up objects many times their size. The findings, published in the Cell Press journal Device ("Magnetic swarm intelligence of mass-produced, programmable...
Weak fluorination strategy unlocks graphene’s potential for optoelectronic and energy applications
Dec 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers from Tohoku University and collaborators have developed a weak fluorination strategy to address the zero-bandgap limitation of graphene. The findings are published in Applied Physics Letters ("Photoluminescence and transport properties of fluorinated graphene via a weak fluorination strategy"). In most electronic materials, a "gate,"...
Peptide-guided nanoparticles deliver mRNA to neurons
Dec 17, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Penn Engineers have modified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) — the revolutionary technology behind the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines — to not only cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) but also to target specific types of cells, including neurons. This breakthrough marks a significant step toward potential next-generation treatments...
New magnetic material achieves scalable conductivity at atomic thickness
Dec 18, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Making electronic devices smaller requires components that work reliably at tiny scales. While engineers have successfully miniaturized many electronic parts, they face a persistent obstacle: most metals stop behaving like metals when made extremely thin. Gold, silver, and other metals become semiconductors or insulators when...
High-performance multi-material 3D printing techniques
Dec 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at Tohoku University's Institute for Materials Research and New Industry Creation Hatchery Center have made a breakthrough in a multi-material 3D printing technique, demonstrating the process for creating a lightweight yet durable automobile part. The results were published in Additive Manufacturing ("Multi-material additive manufacturing...
Step forward in generating solar-powered hydrogen
Dec 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Another advance has been made by experts in nanoscale chemistry to propel further development of sustainable and efficient generation of hydrogen from water using solar power. In a new international collaborative study – led by Flinders University with collaborators in South Australia, the US and...
New polymer ramps up quest for better data storage
Dec 18, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A new material for high density data storage can be erased and recycled in a more efficient and sustainable way, providing a potential alternative to hard disk drives, solid-state drives and flash memory in future. The low-cost polymer stores data as ‘dents’, making a miniscule...
Light-driven hybrid nanoreactor combines bio and synthetic methods for hydrogen production
Dec 17, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The University of Liverpool has reported a significant advancement in engineering biology and clean energy. A team of researchers has developed an innovative light-driven hybrid nanoreactor that merges natural efficiency with cutting-edge synthetic precision to produce hydrogen—a clean and sustainable energy source. Published in ACS...
Researchers introduce Boltz-1, a fully open-source model for predicting biomolecular structures
Dec 17, 2024 (Nanowerk News) MIT scientists have released a powerful, open-source AI model, called Boltz-1, that could significantly accelerate biomedical research and drug development. Developed by a team of researchers in the MIT Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health, Boltz-1 is the first fully open-source model that achieves...
Current generated by the quantum Hall effect has additional magnetic properties
Dec 17, 2024 (Nanowerk News) The quantum Hall effect, a fundamental effect in quantum mechanics, not only generates an electric but also a magnetic current. It arises from the motion of electrons on an orbit around the nuclei of atoms. This has been demonstrated by the calculations of a team...