Blog @ NanoVic - Nanotechnology Blog

Lovers of carbon nanotubes as I know you all are, it’s time to move over and make way for boron……or so say Jun Ni and his research team in Beijing, China. Boron is the 5th element in the periodic table, having the chemical symbol B (carbon, C, is the 6th element). As would be expected from their divergent periodic groupings, boron nanotubes assemble with a different chemistry to those of carbon. Rather than forming the classic ‘chicken-wire’ pattern, boron atoms are naturally inclined to form a buckled triangular latticework. However, theoretical modelling by Ni and his colleagues has allowed them to predict that adding an extra atom to the centre of some hexagons in the unstable ‘carbon-like’ boron lattice would confer the nanostructure with enough stability to be used commercially. Boron nanotubes of differing diameters are predicted to have a range of possible applications, largely as a result of varied electrical properties; wide tubes should be metallic conductors and perhaps even superconductors at high temperatures. Narrow tubes would offer value in the form of semiconductors. The next step in the boron nanotube story is to find an effective catalyst for production by chemical vapour deposition. Personally, I find all this chemistry talk really exciting….hope none of you found this blog too boron-ing. [Image courtesy of New Scientist]

To follow on from the blog on bionic skin and limbs…..nanotech is now enabling bionic eyes as well!! 

Engineers at the University of Washington have reported that they have used nanotechnology manufacturing techniques to combine a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. Looking through the lens, you would see what the display is generating superimposed on the world outside. 

Perfecting virtual displays could mean that travelling executives could surf the Net or check their e-mail on a floating virtual display screen that only they could see. It also would mean that drivers could see their speed projected onto the windshield, or gamers could become far more immersed in their virtual worlds. 

Don’t expect this particular contact lens to give you 20/20 vision though. The latest prototype is not designed to correct vision problems, but researchers said the technology could eventually be used on a corrective lens without obstructing the person’s vision. 

The line between artificial and biological life is becoming increasingly blurry,and the latest development is robots that feed themselves. It’s not a new concept to create robots which don’t need ‘refueling’ so to speak, of course you can whack a few solar cells on to create a renewable fuel source. But the Bristol Robotics Laboratory has actually created the worlds first robot that eats unrefined biological material to produce it’s energy.

So what does a robot eat when it’s hungry? EcoBotII eats flies, generating electricity from a microbial fuel cell which digests the chitin in the exoskeleton of the insects. And although the power output is tiny, EcoBotII won’t break any speed records at a measly 13 cm per hour, it is able to be fuelled for 2 weeks on just 8 flies! At this stage EcoBotII has been ‘fed’ flies, but next generation EcoBotIII will not only attract it’s own food with a trap system using attractant pheremones, it will be the first complete artificial digestive system, able to excrete it’s own waste.

Why make a robot that can eat insects? One group that has been very interested, says scientist Allan Winfield, is organic farmers, who would be able to control pests without using pesticides, with the added bonus that the robots are able to ‘poo’ out nutrient rich fertiliser!

NanoVic in association with AZoNetwork recently released the third in its series of podcasts.  The first in the series talked about nanotechnology in general; the second looked at the health, safety and environmental issues and this podcast focuses on how nanotechnology research and development can be taken through to successful commercial outcomes.
 
NanoVic’s illustrious leader, Peter Binks, finally features in one of our podcasts talking about how NanoVic is moving forward into the product development phase.  Other prominent contributors to the podcast are Greg Smith - SciVentures, Paul McCormick - Advanced Technology, Calum Drummond - CSIRO, John Kapeleris - Australian Institute of Commercialisation and Tina Rankovic of the ANBF.

Interesting listening and perspectives from those who have a passion for nanotechnology.  Let us know what you think of this podcast or either of the others NanoVic has produced?

Using nanotechnology, US scientists have developed a localised and controlled drug delivery method that is invisible to the immune system - a discovery that could provide newer and more effective treatments for cancer and other diseases.

The researchers used nanoscale polymer films, about four nanometers per layer, to build a sort of matrix or platform to hold and slowly release an anti-inflammatory drug. They then coated tiny chips with layers of the inert nanoscale films, providing what has been described as a ‘Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak’ for the chips, hiding them from the body’s natural defences.

Using the nanoscale film to deliver the drugs means that drugs could be released slowly and under control for weeks or longer, and may prove to be an effective approach for delivering multiple drugs and controlling the sequence of multi-drug delivery. The ability of the film to make chips ‘invisible’ to the body also means that this system could be used to provide more localised drug delivery which could limit side effects, particularly important in the case of chemotherapy drugs, without the body rejecting the implant and breaking down its functionality. 

The study, published in the journal ACS Nano, provides an example of the enormous potential and clinical significance that nanomaterials may represent in such fields as oncology, endocrinology and cardiology.

Just as we’ve all (hopefully) finally made the switch to energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs, researchers at the University of Glasgow have announced a way of utilising LEDs for household lighting.

LEDs are currently used in computers and mobile phones and are significantly more energy efficient, but because of the way they are designed they trap a lot of light, and have not been bright enough for household lighting uses. However, by creating microscopic holes in the surface of LEDs, more light can escape resulting in a brighter light for no more energy consumption. But the process is costly and inefficient.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have used nanoimprint lithography to create the holes, which can be done on billions of LEDs for much lower cost. LEDs also last far longer than even current energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs.

An American University has found a creative way to promote and educate about Nanotechnology, with the universities Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) - which aims to connect theory, experiment, and computation in a way that makes a difference to the future of nanotechnology - launching a competition for developing a nanotechnology game, open to the universities students. Individuals or teams are to create storyboard proposals for a game or activity aimed at middle school children, in which a well-defied learning objective, in the areas of structure and properties of matter, dominant forces and self-assembly, is accomplished. As well as a monetary prizes, the winning game will also be published within one of the learning modules of the generation-nano web site, which aims to excite middle school children about science by teaching them nanotechnology concepts.

It’s one of those strange internet phenomena that you either find funny or you don’t (I, being quite easily amused, love them). If you don’t know what LOLcats is then this post probably won’t make much sense, but try here for some background. New scientist itself has now contributed to a new LOLscience flikr set, which includes such gems as the ones below. Go on, check it out now for a giggle while the boss isn’t looking.

Nanopaticles one hundred times smaller than a human blood cell are being used to help direct healthy cells to damaged areas in blood vessels. The nanoparticles are made of biodegradable polyactic acid and coated with iron oxide. By inducing an external magnetic field, the particles are directed to steel stents located in damaged vessels. Researchers at the Philidelphia Childrens Hospital say that this method of targeting cells to areas of damage could have wide ranging implications, from directing cells to recoat stents and prevent vessel blockage in cardiovascular patients, to introducing stem cells to pins in bones or medication to other areas where stents are used such as the oesophagus and bile duct.

Courtesy Atsushi Asano, Cornell University

While not quite on the nanoscale, an average human sperm on average is about 0.055 mm long, sperm have provided inspiration for how to power nano-sized devices. Energy to power the sperm tail (flagellum) comes from the mitochondria, the power stations of the cell, while the rear section of the tail or ‘principal piece’ gets it’s energy from glycolysis, the direct breakdown of glucose to produce energy. It’s this process that has inspired researchers at the Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility to try and mimic this process to provide a power source for nanodevices. In sperm, the 10 enzymes required for glycolysis are attached to scaffolding proteins in the sperm tail, holding them in place in a unique conformation. Scientists engineered and tethered 3 of the 10 proteins to a gold surface covered in nickel ions, whilst retaining the enzymes activity. Researchers are now looking to extend the project to include all 10 protens necessary to complete a nano ‘power supply’.