nano letters
Researchers discover new way to design metal nanoparticle catalysts
Tiny metal nanoparticles are used as catalysts in many reactions, from refining chemicals to producing polymers and biofuels. How well these nanoparticles perform as catalysts for these reactions depend on which of their crystal faces are exposed.
…
Nanowires exhibit giant piezoelectricity
Gallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) are among the most technologically relevant semiconducting materials. Gallium nitride is ubiquitous today in optoelectronic elements such as blue lasers (hence the blue-ray disc) and light-emitting-diodes (…
Nanotech milling produces dramatic increase in thermoelectric performance of bulk semiconductor
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (1/25/11) — Researchers from Boston College, MIT, Clemson and Virginia have used nanotechnology to achieve a 60-90 percent increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit of p-type half-Heusler, a common bulk semiconductor compound…
Your genome in minutes: New technology could slash sequencing time
Scientists from Imperial College London are developing technology that could ultimately sequence a person’s genome in mere minutes, at a fraction of the cost of current commercial techniques.
The researchers have patented an early prototype techno…
Nanogenerators grow strong enough to power small conventional electronics
Blinking numbers on a liquid-crystal display (LCD) often indicate that a device’s clock needs resetting. But in the laboratory of Zhong Lin Wang at Georgia Tech, the blinking number on a small LCD signals the success of a five-year effort to po…
Submarines could use new nanotube technology for sonar and stealth
Speakers made from carbon nanotube sheets that are a fraction of the width of a human hair can both generate sound and cancel out noise — properties ideal for submarine sonar to probe the ocean depths and make subs invisible to enemies. That’s the …