Blog @ NanoVic - Nanotechnology Blog

Researchers at Cornell University have built a nanoguitar about the size of a red blood cell, and can play it too! 

The minute guitar is made of silicon crystal, carved out using a technique called electron-beam lithography. It can be played, not in the traditional way by plucking the strings, but through using targeted laser-light to hit the strings, which causes them to oscillate, creating interference patterns in the light reflected back which can be detected electronically and converted to audible notes. 

The nanoguitar demonstrates the possibility of manufacturing tiny mechanical devices using techniques originally designed for building microelectronic circuits, and its playing ability shows how such devices could substitute for electronic circuit components to make circuits smaller, cheaper and more energy-efficient. 

The technology may also be able to be used for the detection of contamination, with researchers finding they can detect the presence of a single bacterium attached to one such nanostructure via a change in its vibration.

To hear the guitar played click here.

Dr Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh and Dr Benjamin Fry, both Senior Lecturers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, have recently released a book entitled “Nanotechnology-Enabled Sensors” through US publishers Springer.  The book covers an extensive range of topics, and is aimed towards students and researchers who are interested in conducting research in the field of nanotechnology-enabled sensing and would like to expand their knowledge.

The book is available online through Amazon.

Researchers from the Northwestern University have shown that nanodiamonds are very effective at delivering chemotherapy drugs to cells without the negative effects associated with current drug delivery agents.  This is the first study to demonstrate the use of nanodiamonds in biomedicine.  Other applications where this model might be used could be fighting tuberculosis or viral infections.  The study has been published online by the journal Nano Letters.

One of the potential advantages is improved cancer treatment by limiting uncontrolled exposure of toxic drugs to the body.  The aggregated clusters of nanodiamonds were shown to be ideal for carrying a chemotherapy drug and shielding it from normal cells so as not to kill them, releasing the drug slowly only after it reached its cellular target.  Another advantage was that the nanodiamonds did not cause cell inflammation once the drug had been released, unlike materials currently being used.   Cell inflammation is a serious complication that can predispose a patient to cancer, block the activity of the cancer drug and even promote tumor growth.

I guess diamonds are therefore not just a girl’s best friend but could become man’s as well!

Nanotechnologists must be very good at ‘thinking outside the square’ or even just at ‘thinking outside’ with many of their inspirations coming from nature. 

Similarly to the article on ‘gecko tape’, scientist at a US university have developed a novel responsive material inspired by the Venus flytrap. Venus flytraps work by material on the leaves snapping rapidly from a concave shape to convex when hairs on the leaves are triggered. To imitate this, the scientists have developed a polymer surface covered with tiny holes capped by thin lenses that can snap between convex and concave conformations when triggered. 

This material has great potential for creating release-on-command coatings and could allow for the removal of superglues, wallpapers and paints without toxic solvents, as well as surfaces with responsive reflective properties, such as road signs that change their reflectivity with changing weather conditions. 

They are also working on a Venus flytrap-gecko hybrid, investigating the adhesion and release properties of geckos toes as a means of controlling the sticking and releasing of this new material.

So what will they be inspired by next?……..

The premier journal Nature Nanotechnology has published two free online papers as part of a global effort to raise awareness and stimulate research into poverty and human research. The articles discuss how nantoechnology might impact on countries of the developing world. The first publication, entitled Nanotechnology and the Challenge of Clean Water, presents the opinion that although nanoscience does offer a great deal of potential for increasing global access to appropriate drinking water, care must be taken to ensure that nanotechnology transfer is accompanied by technology adaptation and technology adoption to suit the country in which it is applied. The second publication, Are Natural Resources a Curse?, presents an interesting discussion pertaining to the changes in global demand for elemental resources with emerging technologies, and how this can have a very strong impact on nations and commmunities. For example, should carbon nanotubes emerge as a contender to replace copper wires for transmission of electricity, countries such as Zambia may lose out since a quarter of its foreign exchange relies on minerals such as copper. Equally, it might be possible that nanotechnology adds value to a particular country’s exports in a way that mitigates heavy reliability on a particular resource. Follow the links to the articles above for more interesting aspects relating to nanotechology and the developing world; an editorial also addresses the issue. Clearly it’s a topic which requires further multidisciplinary discussion.

We have previously reported on the role of nanotech in the future direction of clothing, for example, nano-garments that can prevent colds and flu, are stain repellent and never need washing (see Future directions for clothing 27/07/2007)

Another future role for nanotech in clothing is to turn garments into communications devices. An American company has been working with the military, emergency workers and doctors to create the ‘Smart shirt’ - clothing featuring tiny microscopic wires interwoven into the fabric itself.

This kind of technology could one day help outfit the soldier of the future, keeping track of vital signs, movement and even heating up or cooling down depending on the weather. The technology could also be used to remotely monitor home-bound patients, capturing vital data and then beaming it wirelessly to a doctor, a hospital, a family member or wherever it needs to go.