Northwestern
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.
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Breakthrough in converting heat waste to electricity
EVANSTON, Ill. — Researchers at Northwestern University have placed nanocrystals of rock salt into lead telluride, creating a material that can harness electricity from heat-generating items such as vehicle exhaust systems, industrial processes an…
Molecular fossil
In today’s world of sophisticated organisms proteins are the stars. They are the indispensible catalytic workhorses, carrying out the processes essential to life. But long, long ago ribonucleic acid (RNA) reigned supreme.
Now Northwestern Universi…
Cheek swab may detect lung cancer
Early detection is critical for improving cancer survival rates. Yet, one of the deadliest cancers in the United States, lung cancer, is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages.
Now, researchers have developed a method to detect lu…
Nanotechnology may help overcome current limitations of gene therapy
Scientists from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have created a hybrid “nanodevice” composed of a “scaffolding” of titanium oxide nanocrystals attached with snippets of DNA that may one day be used to target defective genes that play a role in cancer, neurological disease and other conditions.
The titanium oxide nanocrystals, which are less than a few billionths of a meter in diameter and are the same material used in artificial hips and knees, may provide the ideal means of overcoming current limitations of gene therapy, such as adverse reactions to genetically modified viruses used as vehicles to deliver genes into cells.