Tag: nanotechnology
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Nanoparticle Size Affects Hydrogen Release in Fuel Cells
Researchers at Delft University of Technology and VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands have shown that the size of a metal alloy nanoparticle influences the speed with which hydrogen gas is released when stored in a metal compound containing hydrogen. The team led by Delft materials scientist Bernard Dam published its findings in the October…
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Semiconductor Companies to Invest $4.4B in New York R&D
Five semiconductor developers said today they will make a joint investment of $4.4 billion over the next five years to develop new computer chip technologies in New York State. The companies include Intel Corporation, IBM, GlobalFoundries, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The investments will be made in current and upgraded facilities in Albany,…
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Copper Nanofilm Can Replace Rare Earth in Digital Displays
Research chemists at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina have developed a film made of copper nanowires that could replace expensive rare earths now used in digital displays. The discovery by Duke chemistry professor Ben Wiley and grad student Aaron Rathmell appears online in the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required). Wiley has also started…
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Gold Nanowires Add Conductivity to Heart Tissue Patches
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way to improve the performance of engineered heart tissue patches with gold nanowires. The findings from the team of physicians, engineers, and materials scientists appear online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology (paid subscription required). Patches of engineered heart tissue, made with…
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Semiconductor Foundation, NSF Fund Nanoelectronics Research
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina and National Science Foundation (NSF) are funding $20 million in grants on nanoelectronics research. Some 12 research teams at 24 participating U.S. universities will conduct research over a four-year period on a new switching mechanism using nanoscale electronics as a replacement for current transistors, the…
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Toxicity to Human Cells of Nanotubes, Nanowires Investigated
A research team at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island has found some nanoscale materials interact with human cells much like asbestos fibers, making the materials toxic. Their research on carbon nanotubes and gold nanowires appears online in the journal Nature Nanotechnology (paid subscription required). The team led by Huajian Gao, professor of engineering found…
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Magnetic Fields Help Purify Hybrid Nanoparticles
Chemistry, physics, and materials scientists at Pennsylvania State University have invented a new system using magnetism to purify hybrid nanoparticles, a development with implications for drug delivery, medical imaging, and related fields. The findings of Mary Elizabeth Williams, Raymond E. Schaak, and their colleagues at Penn State appear online in the journal Agewandte Chemie (paid…
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Microbes Found to Clean Nuclear Waste, Generate Electricity
Researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing have shown the ability of certain microbes to generate an electric current while cleaning up uranium in wastewater. The team’s findings, for which patents have been filed, appear online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Microbiologist Gemma Reguera (pictured right)…
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Fast, Inexpensive, Portable Blood Tests Developed
A team of engineers from University of Toledo in Ohio has developed a low-cost, portable technique that can quickly detect specific proteins in a sample of human blood. Their technique is described in the 1 September issue of the journal, Biomedical Optics Express. Human blood has thousands of different proteins essential to day-to-day life functions,…
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NSF, Industry Consortium Fund Advanced Chip Research
Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond has received two grants totaling $1.75 million from National Science Foundation and the Semiconductor Research Corporation to create more energy-efficient computing devices. Semiconductor Research Corporation is an international technology research consortium of member companies and university research programs. The grants fund research to translate theoretical work on replacing traditional transistor-based…