Blog @ NanoVic - Nanotechnology Blog

Dye-sensitized solar cells are a type of solar cell which uses an organic dye to to absorb incoming photons and produce excited electrons. Have a look here for a nice diagram of one. Typically, these sorts of cells contain a transparent, conductive coating (typically an oxide such as titanium dioxide, on glass), acting as the anode. A separate coating, on the other plate, consists of platinum and acts as a catalytic conductor.

These types of coatings have their drawbacks though. The oxide films work best when they are spread on rigid, stable structures such as glass, limiting the types of structures that can be made. Platinum films are effective, but expensive to produce.

In order to tackle these problems researchers tried to replace both of the films with nanotubes. This meant finding a way to achieve the optimal parameters for transparency, conductivity and catalytic function. Ordinarily, carbon nanotubes are mid-range for these three properties. Researchers found that introducing defects into the tubes, by exposing them to ozone which adds extra chemical groups into the tube, they actually found a big increase in the catalytic function. A great example of how changes in the structures of nanomaterials can have such huge effects on their properties. The link to the research article can be found here.

The researchers are currently applying to patent this technology, which will hopefully mean cheaper, more flexible solar cells on their way to meet the demands of the ever increasing renewable energy market.

The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, is due to fire up later this year. Dubbed ‘the biggest experiment ever’, it’s hoped the LHC will help answer the question of what the universe is made of, by recreating conditions similar to those a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, smashing particles together to generate up to 600 million collisions per second.

But will the LHC make it possible to make a black hole What about a black hole big enough to destroy the earth?!

(image from the LHC image library)

According to the information put out by CERN:

‘According to some theoretical models, tiny black holes could be produced in collisions at the LHC. They would then very quickly decay into what is known as Hawking radiation (the tinier the black hole, the faster it evaporate) which would be detected by experiments. Cosmic rays with very much more energy than that available a the LHC could also in principle produce black holes. However no evidence for such phenomena has so far been found.

You can read about physicistStephen Reucroft and John Swains thoughts on the possibility that the flick of the switch will end us all over at the Dr Knowledge Blog.

Meanwhile, the construction of the LHC is complete, and this site claims to countdown to the moment they flick the switch. I’m not sure how accurate that one is, but you can see the official programme for the cooling of the accelerator (requiring 96 tonnes of helium to cool down the LHC and fill it for first operation) here.

Researchers at Cornell University, New York have come up with a new use for carbon nano-structured buckyballs. The novel idea relies on the capacity of buckyballs to enhance electronic resonances at low voltage during memory creation in flash software (which most of you have in your mobile phones and digital cameras). As reported by naturenews, this is an exciting development since “the major bottleneck of the current flash memories is the voltage” (Tuo-Hung Hu, Cornell University). Put simply, buckyball-enhanced resonance means less voltage is required to create or alter memory. In terms of your hardware, this translates into [1] reduced need for peripheral circuitry (i.e. smaller devices) and [2] longer battery life spans. Sweet.

And for those of you who are too young (or old) to understand the inspiration behind this blog title, here’s a reminder from 1982. FYI, a ‘dutchie’ is a Jamaican cooking pot.  

I’ve joked with friends at how I’d love the RFID chip from my Oyster card (tube ticket for those outside the UK) embedded in my wrist, so I could just wave over the touch pads at the entrance and exits to tube stations and stroll on through instead of rummaging through my bag for it at the gate each time. But someone back in Australia has already out-geeked me here by inserting a microchip in his arm which acts as keyless entry to his house.

Picture:Joe Armao from SMH article

New scientist also reported this week a new way for humans and computers to talk to each other called MUCI – Muscle computer interface. With MUCI a sensor (in this case an arm-band) is able to recognise gestures via changes in the forearm muscles and convert them into instructions.

I know, we already have keys that work perfectly well to open houses, and a keyboard already exists to interface what your muscles (in your hands) are saying to a computer, but it’s just the sheer nerdy gadgetry (well, actually lack of gadgetry) that makes these things so fascinating!

Explay, an Israeli company, has created the world’s smallest projector.  The revolutionary nano-projector engine is small enough to fit inside your pocket or be embedded in your mobile device, allowing you to truly enjoy the big picture wherever you are.

The revolutionary laser based projection technology enables high-resolution images 20 times larger than the mobile device itself. Its unique battery-operated, nano-projector ensures an eye-safe, always focused superior quality, powerful projected image, elements essential for frequent usage by mobile product consumers.

The main benefits of the device are matchbox size; large screen projection from a small device; compact and light weight; low power consumption; high reliability and safe.  What a great idea especially as most people possess a mobile which goes wherever they do.  Would certainly cut down on the excess baggage of a large projector or forgetting to take it with you when you leave to give your presentation!

Last week I wrote about how wearable nanotechnology may be able to help you charge your mobile phone.  This week I’ve found an example of how Nokia see nanoscience helping them make better communication technology.  A screen that folds up into a phone, which you can then strap around your wrist as a bracelet or watch.  It doesn’t exist yet, but this clip from the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre and the Nokia Research Centre does show a rather funky do-it-all gadget that I would definitely want to get a hold of if it was real.

Not wanting to just link to some blatant Nokia ad, the clip is worth it for showing how properties of nanostructures (for example superhydophobicity and their ability to stretch) could be applied to communication technology.

Ipod may have called one of their models nano, but truly nano-sized radios have been tipped as one of the 10 emerging technologies of 2008. 

A nano radio consists of a single molecule (a carbon nanotube) which can receive radio signals.  The radio works by translating the electromagnetic oscillations of a radio wave into the mechanical vibrations of a nanotube, which are in turn converted into a stream of electrical pulses that reproduce the original radio signal.  Of course this means that the first transmission it was successfully tested with was ‘Good Vibrations’ by the Beach Boys.

 The nano radio could be incorporated into tiny wireless devices, or even used in medicine to travel around the body, responding to radio signals, perhaps delivering drugs to targeted areas. 

It’s one of those everyday annoyances, finding yourself with a flat battery in any one of the gadgets we carry around constantly now.  I would love the option of charging your phone or your ipod while you’re out and about.  And it looks like that may be possible soon, with a recent report in Nature on power production from nanotextiles (watch me carefully avoid the use of the pun ‘power dressing’!)

 The textiles consist of zinc oxide nanowires which generate electricity by the piezoelectric effect, in other words, produce electricity when under mechanical stress.  The zinc oxide nanowires are embedded around a Kevlar fibre to produce something looking like a bottle-brush.   Some are then coated in a nanolayer of gold, to act as an electrode. These are aligned and the ‘bristles’ rub past each other, creating the electrical current (see picture).   Once optimised, this nanotextile should provide a simple and cheap way to convert energy of walking into electrical energy.  This report follows an earlier report of a knee brace designed to harvest energy from walking.    Maybe one day we will be able to throw our old chargers out and simply plug in and go for a stroll!

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.