Deadline for submitting abstracts
December 2, 2019
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #7

Symposium B02: Carbon Nanostructures in Medicine and Biology

Symposium focus:

Nanocarbons have unique electronic, optical, and structural properties that enable new applications in biology and medicine. These may include but are not limited to assays, imaging tools, sensors, and therapeutics. The session covers areas including the development of new materials, characterization, uses/demonstration of pharmacology or effects in vitro and in vivo, plant biology applications, and clinical uses.

Nanocarbons Division SES Research Young Investigator Awardee and Keynote Speaker: Prof. Markita Landry, Assistant Professor, University of California at Berkeley

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Deadline for submitting abstracts
December 2, 2019
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #5

Symposium D01: Dielectrics for Nanosystems 8: Materials Science, Processing, Reliability, and Manufacturing

Symposium focus:

The eighth edition of the Dielectrics for Nanosystems symposium, sponsored by the Dielectric Science and Technology Division, will be held at the 237th ECS meeting. The symposium, which started at the 206th ECS Meeting in Hawaii in 2004, is being held after a gap of four years. It will outline the role of dielectrics in research areas of advanced nanosystems involving electronic, optical, magnetic, mechanical, biological, and chemical systems, including sensing devices and energy sources. (more…)

The new deadline is October 8, 2019.

The Electrochemical Society Nanocarbons Division established the Award in 2018 to encourage excellence in nanocarbons research. The award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the understanding and applications of carbon materials.

ECS invites nominations for the Robert C. Haddon Research Award of qualified individuals who have made outstanding achievement in, or scientific contribution to, the science of fullerenes, nanotubes and carbon nanostructures. The award consists of a scroll, a $1,000 prize, and assistance up to $1,500 to facilitate attendance at the award presentation. ECS has 13 electrochemistry and solid state science and technology divisions, each of which has robust awards and travel grant programs. (more…)

Credit: Ma et al./Current Biology

Hollywood has long toyed with the idea of superhuman powers, as seen in the 2013 science fiction thriller movie Riddick, where the lead character uses his extraordinary night vision to survive a hostile world. It is one supernatural ability that may be closer to becoming a reality.

According to ScienceDaily, scientists have now made it possible for mice to pick up infrared light with the help of nanotechnology, creating the ability for night vision.

The procedure

It works with a single injection of photoreceptor-binding particles that is inserted into the mice’s eyes, converting photons to high-energy forms that allow the mice to develop infrared vision for up to 10 weeks. The procedure results in minimal side effects and causes no changes to normal vision. (more…)

Gold nanowires grown in the Rice University lab. Credit: Zubarev Research Group/Rice University

Vitamin C offers countless benefits. It helps protect against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, can strengthen hair, and helps prevent wrinkles. Not to mention, it can also turn stubby gold nanorods into gold nanowires of impressive length.

According to ScienceDaily, scientists at Rice University recently discovered that all it takes is a dose of vitamin C to promote gold nanowires growth, making the wires valuable for sensing, diagnostic, imaging, and therapeutic applications.

According to Eugene Zubarev, a Rice lab chemist who worked on the study, and Bishnu Khanal, a Rice chemistry alumnus and lead author of the study, nanorods measured 25 nanometers thick at the start of the process, maintaining their widths as they grew in height. An important point, as the wires’ aspect ratio—length over width—dictates how well they absorb and emit light and how they conduct electrons. (more…)

Schematic representation of the movement of the flower-like particle as it makes its way through a cellular trap to deliver therapeutic genes. Credit: WSU

According to ScienceDaily, researchers have developed a new method to deliver drugs and therapies into cells at the nanoscale level.

What makes this new approach particularly promising is that it does not lead to toxic side effects, unlike other similar efforts attempted by researchers. The problem frequently faced was in the delivery of the therapeutic genes into cells, the nanomaterials only showing low delivery efficiency of medicine and possible toxicity. (more…)

Engineers are developing a new method of processing nanomaterials that could lead to faster and cheaper manufacturing of flexible, thin film devices, such as touch screens and window coatings.

The “intense pulsed light sintering” method uses high-energy light over an area nearly 7,000 times larger than a laser to fuse nanomaterials in seconds.

The existing method of pulsed light fusion uses temperatures of around 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) to fuse silver nanospheres into structures that conduct electricity. But the new study, published in RSC Advances and led by Rutgers School of Engineering doctoral student Michael Dexter, shows that fusion at 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit) works well while retaining the conductivity of the fused silver nanomaterials.

The engineers’ achievement started with silver nanomaterials of different shapes: long, thin rods called nanowires in addition to nanospheres. The sharp reduction in temperature needed for fusion makes it possible to use low-cost, temperature-sensitive plastic substrates like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate in flexible devices without damaging them.

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A new method to quickly produce fibers from carbon nanotubes is both handmade and high tech.

The method allows researchers to make short lengths of strong, conductive fibers from small samples of bulk nanotubes in about an hour.

In 2013, Rice University chemist Matteo Pasquali found a way to spin full spools of thread-like nanotube fibers for aerospace, automotive, medical, and smart-clothing applications. The fibers look like cotton thread but perform like metal wires and carbon fibers.

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The introduction of purified carbon nanotubes appears to have a beneficial effect on the early growth of wheatgrass, according to scientists. But in the presence of contaminants, those same nanotubes could do great harm.

The Rice University lab of chemist Andrew Barron grew wheatgrass in a hydroponic garden to test the potential toxicity of nanoparticles on the plant. To their surprise, they found one type of particle dispersed in water helped the plant grow bigger and faster.

They suspect the results spring from nanotubes’ natural hydrophobic (water-avoiding) nature that in one experiment apparently facilitated the plants’ enhanced uptake of water.

The lab mounted the small-scale study with the knowledge that the industrial production of nanotubes will inevitably lead to their wider dispersal in the environment. The study cites rapid growth in the market for nanoparticles in drugs, cosmetics, fabrics, water filters, and military weapons, with thousands of tons produced annually.

Despite their widespread use, Barron says few researchers have looked at the impact of environmental nanoparticles—whether natural or human-made—on plant growth.

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Researchers have captured organic nanoparticles colliding and fusing on video for the first time.

This unprecedented view of “chemistry in motion” will aid nanoscientists developing new drug delivery methods, as well as demonstrate how an emerging imaging technique opens a new window on a very tiny world.

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