Nanotechnology

Researchers proposed a novel strategy for using a magnetic field to boost the efficiency of single-atom catalysts -- thus speeding up helpful reactions used for ammonia production and wastewater treatment.

Current regulations for nanomedicines overlook the effects of the different forms of the same element, such as ions, nanoparticles, and aggregates. In a recent study, researchers developed a new analytical method combining an asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation system and mass spectrometry to separately quantify these forms. This technique allows for better quality control and safety evaluation of metal-based nanomedicines, promoting their development and clinical use, with applications also extending to food, cosmetics, and the environment.

Physicists have unveiled a breakthrough in quantum sensing by demonstrating a 2D material as a versatile platform for next-generation nanoscale vectorial magnetometry.

Engineers have developed a multifunctional, reconfigurable component for an optical computing system that could be a game changer in electronics.

A research team has discovered ferroelectric phenomena occurring at a subatomic scale in the natural mineral Brownmillerite.

New technology that uses light's color and spin to display multiple images.

Researchers have discovered a new 2D material, confirming decade-old prediction.

Researchers united insights from cellular biology, quantum computing, old-fashioned semiconductors and high-definition TVs to both create a revolutionary new quantum biosensor. In doing so, they shed light on a longstanding mystery in quantum materials.

A serendipitous observation has led to a surprising discovery: a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, collect it in pores and release it onto surfaces without the need for any external energy. The research describes a material that could open the door to new ways to collect water from the air in arid regions and devices that cool electronics or buildings using the power of evaporation.

Researchers have unveiled a breakthrough in solid-state cooling technology, doubling the efficiency of today's commercial systems. Driven by the Lab's patented nano-engineered thin-film thermoelectric materials and devices, this innovation paves the way for compact, reliable and scalable cooling solutions that could potentially replace traditional compressors across a range of industries.

By carefully placing nanostructures on a flat surface, researchers have significantly improved the performance of so-called optical metasurfaces in conductive plastics. This is a major step for controllable flat optics, with future applications such as video holograms, invisibility materials, and sensors, as well as in biomedical imaging.

Researchers have observed hydrogen and deuterium molecules in tiny spaces called picocavities using advanced spectroscopy. This study reveals unique differences between the molecules due to quantum effects, potentially aiding future research in energy storage and quantum technologies.

Researchers have demonstrated that by using a semiconductor with flexible bonds, the material can be moulded into various structures using nano containers, without altering its composition, the discovery could lead to the design of a variety of customised electronic devices using only a single element.

Imagine drawing on something as delicate as a living cell -- without damaging it. Researchers have made this groundbreaking discovery using an unexpected combination of tools: frozen ethanol, electron beams and purple-tinted microbes. By advancing a method called ice lithography, the team was able to etch incredibly small, detailed patterns directly onto fragile biological surfaces.

A team of chemists has made significant strides in the field of mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs). Their work showcases the development of a compact catenane with tuneable mechanical chirality, offering promising applications in areas such as material science, nanotechnology, and pharmaceuticals.

Scientists have created a new nanoparticle that could make ultrasound-based cancer treatments more effective and safer, while also helping prevent tumors from coming back. To make the therapy even more powerful, the scientists also attached a potent chemotherapy drug to the peptide on the nanoparticle's surface. The ultrasound physically destroys the tumor, and the drug helps eliminate any leftover cancer cells that might cause the tumor to return.

A significant advancement in molecular engineering has produced a large, hollow spherical shell nanostructure through the self-assembly of peptides and metal ions, report researchers from Japan. This dodecahedral link structure, measuring 6.3 nanometers in diameter, was achieved by combining geometric principles derived from knot theory and graph theory with peptide engineering. The resulting structure demonstrates remarkable stability while featuring a large inner cavity suitable for encapsulating macromolecules, opening pathways for producing complex artificial virus capsids.

An international team has pioneered a nano-3D printing method to create superconducting nanostructures, leading to groundbreaking technological advancements.

Carbyne, a one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms, is incredibly strong for being so thin, making it an intriguing possibility for use in next-generation electronics, but its extreme instability made it nearly impossible to produce at all, let alone produce enough of it for advanced studies. Now, an international team of researchers may have a solution.

Augmented-reality (AR) technology is rapidly finding its way into everyday life, from education and healthcare to gaming and entertainment. However, the core AR device remains bulky and heavy, making prolonged wear uncomfortable. A breakthrough now promises to change that. A research team has slashed both thickness and weight using a single-layer waveguide.

Influenza viruses are among the most likely triggers of future pandemics. A research team has developed a method that can be used to study the interaction of viruses with host cells in unprecedented detail. With the help of their new development, they have also analyzed how novel influenza viruses use alternative receptors to enter target cells.

A team of researchers has developed a cost-effective, high-throughput technology for detecting nanoplastics and microplastics in the environment. These particles are pervasive, posing health and environmental risks, yet detecting them at the nanoscale has been difficult. The 3D-printed HoLDI-MS test platform overcomes the limitations of traditional mass spectrometry by enabling direct analysis of samples without requiring complex sample preparation. The researchers say it also will work for detection of waterborne plastic particles. HoLDI-MS stands for hollow-laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Researchers have shown they can inexpensively nanomanufacture silk microneedles to precisely fortify crops, monitor plant health, and detect soil toxins.

Researchers have developed silk iron microparticles (SIMPs) -- magnetic, biodegradable carriers designed to deliver therapies directly to disease sites like aneurysms or tumors. The particles are created by chemically bonding iron oxide nanoparticles to regenerated silk fibroin using glutathione, enhancing their magnetic responsiveness while maintaining biocompatibility. These nanoscale carriers, roughly one-hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair, can potentially be guided externally to precise locations in the body. The platform enables localized delivery of therapeutic agents such as extracellular vesicles, regenerative factors, or drugs, offering a minimally invasive approach to treating conditions like abdominal aortic aneurysms and expanding the potential for targeted therapies in regenerative medicine.

Metal oxyhydroxides are nanoparticles with wide industrial applications, but determining their exact structure is often challenging. Recently, a research team has developed an advanced imaging method called 'lattice correlation analysis' to reveal the detailed 3D atomic structure of titanium oxyhydroxide nanoparticles. By leveraging data-driven insights, this method unlocks the crystal attributes without causing any damage, thus marking a milestone in the study of sensitive nanomaterials.

Researchers have developed a new catalyst design capable of pushing the projected fuel cell catalyst lifespans to 200,000 hours. The research marks a significant step toward the widespread adoption of fuel cell technology in heavy-duty vehicles, such as long-haul tractor trailers. While platinum-alloy catalysts have historically delivered superior chemical reactions, the alloying elements leach out over time, diminishing catalytic performance. The degradation is further accelerated by the demanding voltage cycles required to power heavy-duty vehicles. To address this challenge, the team has engineered a durable catalyst architecture with a novel design that shields platinum from the degradation typically observed in alloy systems.

Researchers have developed a new machine learning algorithm that excels at interpreting optical spectra, potentially enabling faster and more precise medical diagnoses and sample analysis.

Historically, small molecule drugs have been precisely designed down to the atomic scale. Considering their relatively large complex structures, nanomedicines have lagged behind. Researchers argue this precise control should be applied to optimize new nanomedicines.

If you haven't heard of a tardigrade before, prepare to be wowed. These clumsy, eight-legged creatures, nicknamed water bears, are about half a millimeter long and can survive practically anything: freezing temperatures, near starvation, high pressure, radiation exposure, outer space and more. Researchers took advantage of the tardigrade's nearly indestructible nature and gave the critters tiny 'tattoos' to test a microfabrication technique to build microscopic, biocompatible devices.

A research team develops high-power, high-energy-density anode using nano-sized tin particles and hard carbon.

A team of researchers has identified a promising new approach that may one day help to restore vision in people affected by macular degeneration and other retinal disorders.

A research team develops a new alloy that maintains tensile properties from -196 degrees Celsius to 600 degrees Celsius.

A team of researchers has successfully predicted abnormal grain growth in simulated polycrystalline materials for the first time -- a development that could lead to the creation of stronger, more reliable materials for high-stress environments, such as combustion engines.

Microplastics and the much smaller nanoplastics enter the human body in various ways, for example through food or the air we breathe. A large proportion is excreted, but a certain amount remains in organs, blood and other body fluids. Scientists have now been able to develop a method for detecting and quantifying nanoplastics in transparent body fluids and determining their chemical composition.

Researchers have developed a pioneering, sustainable method for producing cadmium-based quantum dots (QDs) in water using a biocompatible chalcogen source. This fully aqueous, continuous flow process avoids harmful organic solvents and offers enhanced safety, scalability, and environmental performance. A collaboration led to the creation of a water-soluble chalcogen transfer agent inspired by peptide chemistry. Real-time Raman spectroscopy enabled detailed analysis of reaction mechanisms. The new system improves productivity while reducing waste and energy use. Although cadmium QDs are efficient, their toxicity remains a concern, prompting the team to explore greener alternatives. This innovation marks a significant step toward responsible, large-scale nanomaterial production.

When materials are created on a nanometer scale -- just a handful of atoms thick -- even the thermal energy present at room temperature can cause structural ripples. How these ripples affect the mechanical properties of these thin materials can limit their use in electronics and other key systems. New research validates theoretical models about how elasticity is scale-dependent -- in other words, the elastic properties of a material are not constant, but vary with the size of the piece of material.

Iron and its alloys, such as steel and cast iron, dominate the modern world, and there's growing demand for iron-derived products. Traditionally, blast furnaces transform iron ore into purified elemental metal, but the process requires a lot of energy and emits air pollution. Now, researchers report that they've developed a cleaner method to extract iron from a synthetic iron ore using electrochemistry, which they say could become cost-competitive with blast furnaces.

Preparing catalysts by sending hot, steamy car exhaust over them could improve their efficiency and reduce the amount of rare and expensive metals required in vehicle catalytic converters and many other emission control and industrial processes.

A tiny, soft, flexible robot that can crawl through earthquake rubble to find trapped victims or travel inside the human body to deliver medicine may seem like science fiction, but an international team is pioneering such adaptable robots by integrating flexible electronics with magnetically controlled motion.

The world is littered with trillions of micro- and nanoscopic pieces of plastic. These can be smaller than a virus -- just the right size to disrupt cells and even alter DNA. Researchers find them almost everywhere they've looked, from Antarctic snow to human blood. In a new study, scientists have delineated the molecular process that causes these small pieces to break off in such large quantities.

Physicists have made a novel discovery regarding the interaction of electronic excitations via spin waves. The finding could open the door to future technologies and advanced applications such as optical modulators, all-optical logic gates, and quantum transducers.

Researchers developed a manufacturing technique that rapidly generates large quantities of nanoparticles coated with drug-delivering polymers, which hold great potential for treating cancer. The particles can be targeted directly to tumors, where they release their payload while avoiding many of the side effects of traditional chemotherapy.

Researchers have expanded the potential of carbon capture technology that plucks CO2 directly from the air by demonstrating that there are multiple suitable and abundant materials that can facilitate direct air capture. Researchers present new, lower-cost materials to facilitate moisture-swing to catch and then release CO2 depending on the local air's moisture content, calling it 'one of the most promising approaches for CO2 capture.'

An international team has merged two lab-synthesized materials into a synthetic quantum structure once thought impossible to exist and produced an exotic structure expected to provide insights that could lead to new materials at the core of quantum computing.

Researchers have created a bilayer metasurface made of two stacked layers of titanium dioxide nanostructures, opening new possibilities for structuring light.

While the threat that microplastics pose to human and ecological health has been richly documented and is well known, nanoplastics, which are smaller than one micrometer (1/50th the thickness of an average human hair), are far more reactive, far more mobile and vastly more capable of crossing biological membranes. Yet, because they are so tiny and so mobile, researchers don't yet have an accurate understanding of just how toxic these particles are.

Researchers have uncovered a more efficient way to turn carbon dioxide into methanol, a type of alcohol that can serve as a cleaner alternative fuel.

Researchers have discovered brand new interference patterns in twisted two-dimensional tungsten ditelluride lattices. These so-called moir patterns can be tuned to look like periodic spots or even one-dimensional bands by adjusting the twist angle between layers, and they can drastically alter the physical properties of the material.

Scientists have for the first time filmed the real-time growth and contraction of Palladium nanoparticles, opening new avenues for utilising and recycling precious metal catalysts.

Researchers have developed a molecular system for controlled release of iron. They integrated ferrocene, a molecular sandwich that encloses an iron atom, with a carbon 'nanohoop'. As a result, the system allows for the release of Fe2+ ions upon activation with benign green light.

New magnetic nanoparticles in the shape of a cube sandwiched between two pyramids represent a breakthrough for treating ovarian tumors and possibly other types of cancer.

Physicists have measured a nuclear reaction that can occur in neutron star collisions, providing direct experimental data for a process that had previously only been theorised. The study provides new insight into how the universe's heaviest elements are forged -- and could even drive advancements in nuclear reactor physics.

With the long-term goal of creating living cells from non-living components, scientists in the field of synthetic biology work with RNA origami. This tool uses the multifunctionality of the natural RNA biomolecule to fold new building blocks, making protein synthesis superfluous. In pursuit of the artificial cell, a research team has cleared a crucial hurdle. Using the RNA origami technique, they succeeded in producing nanotubes that fold into cytoskeleton-like structures.

Researchers show that precisely layering nano-thin materials creates excitons -- essentially, artificial atoms -- that can act as quantum information bits, or qubits.

Scientists improved battery durability and energy density with a nano-spring coating.

When water freezes into ice or boils into vapor, its properties change dramatically at specific temperatures. These so-called phase transitions are fundamental to understanding materials. But how do such transitions behave in nanomaterials? A team of scientists now presents new insights into the complex nature of phase transitions in magnetic nanomaterials. Their findings reveal the coupling between magnetic and mechanical properties, paving the way for ultra-sensitive sensors.

Tracking targeted drug delivery is often a challenge due to limitations in the current imaging techniques. A recent study reports a breakthrough imaging technique that allows direct and highly sensitive tracking of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) inside the body. This novel technique, which uses neutron activation of gold, could revolutionize cancer drug delivery by enabling real-time visualization of the gold nanoparticles without external tracers.

Imagine a microscopic locomotive moving back and forth along a track, propelling itself without any external force. At the molecular level, this concept forms the foundation of molecular motors -- intricate systems that could enable advanced materials, targeted drug delivery, and the development of nanoscale robotics.

Researchers have discovered a new method to generate electricity using small plastic beads. By placing these beads close together and bringing them into contact, they generate more electricity than usual. This process, known as triboelectrification, is similar to the static electricity produced when rubbing a balloon against hair.

Physicists developed simplified formulas to quantify quantum entanglement in strongly correlated electron systems. Their approach was applied to nanoscale materials, revealing unexpected quantum behaviors and identifying key quantities for the Kondo effect. These findings advance understanding of quantum technologies.