Physics in the nanoworld - p443

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.227

From nanomechanical mass sensors to superconducting nanobolometers for astrophysics, the links between physics and nanoscience and technology are deep and varied.

Full Text - Physics in the nanoworld | PDF (129 KB) - Physics in the nanoworld

Subject Category: Education and research

Late lessons from early warnings for nanotechnology - pp444 - 447

Steffen Foss Hansen, Andrew Maynard, Anders Baun & Joel A. Tickner

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.198

A new technology will only be successful if those promoting it can show that it is safe, but history is littered with examples of promising technologies that never fulfilled their true potential and/or caused untold damage because early warnings about safety problems were ignored. The nanotechnology community stands to benefit by learning lessons from this history.

Full Text - Late lessons from early warnings for nanotechnology | PDF (154 KB) - Late lessons from early warnings for nanotechnology

Subject Categories: Environmental, health and safety issues | Ethical, legal and other societal issues

The production of knowledge - pp448 - 449

Richard Jones

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.226

Is nanotechnology an example of a new approach to science and technology, or have commercial considerations always played a major role in decisions about funding research? Richard Jones looks at both sides of the argument.

Full Text - The production of knowledge | PDF (155 KB) - The production of knowledge

Subject Categories: Education and research | Industry and IPR

Thailand resorts to nanotech - pp450 - 451

Adarsh Sandhu

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.225

Its economy might be dominated by agriculture and tourism, but Thailand is investing heavily in nanotechnology, although a shortage of scientists and engineers remains a problem, as Adarsh Sandhu reports.

Full Text - Thailand resorts to nanotech | PDF (240 KB) - Thailand resorts to nanotech

Subject Categories: Education and research | Industry and IPR

Nanotube transistors made easy, nanofibres tackle nuclear waste, new tricks for nanopeapods, microscopists turn to graphene - p452

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.223

Full Text - Nanotube transistors made easy, nanofibres tackle nuclear waste, new tricks for nanopeapods, microscopists turn to graphene | PDF (269 KB) - Nanotube transistors made easy, nanofibres tackle nuclear waste, new tricks for nanopeapods, microscopists turn to graphene

Top down bottom up: Close to the bone - p453

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.224

Polymer scaffolds reinforced with carbon nanotubes can improve the growth of bone tissue in rabbits.

Full Text - Top down bottom up: Close to the bone | PDF (158 KB) - Top down bottom up: Close to the bone

Subject Category: Nanomedicine

Graphene: Nanoelectronics goes flat out - pp455 - 457

Marcus Freitag

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.219

The unique electronic band structure of graphene has led to a number of exotic effects that have fascinated fundamental researchers and may also lead to improvements in the performance of electronic devices.

Full Text - GrapheneNanoelectronics goes flat out | PDF (247 KB) - GrapheneNanoelectronics goes flat out

Subject Category: Electronic properties and devices

Nanomaterials: Let's twist again - pp457 - 458

Knut Deppert & L. Reine Wallenberg

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.220

A dislocation running through the trunk of a nanowire offers a new twist to the growth of chiral branched nanostructures, producing beautiful tree-like structures in the process.

Full Text - NanomaterialsLet's twist again | PDF (222 KB) - NanomaterialsLet's twist again

Subject Categories: Nanomaterials | Structural properties | Synthesis and processing

Smart textiles: Tough cotton - pp458 - 459

Alba G. Avila & Juan P. Hinestroza

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.233

Cotton is an important raw material for producing soft textiles and clothing. Recent discoveries in functionalizing cotton fibres with nanotubes may offer a new line of tough, wearable, smart and interactive garments.

Full Text - Smart textilesTough cotton | PDF (151 KB) - Smart textilesTough cotton

Subject Categories: Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes | Nanomaterials

Instrumentation: Astronomers look to nanotechnology - pp459 - 460

Daniel E. Prober

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.221

A superconducting detector can count photons and measure their energy with an accuracy that could be good enough for space-based far-infrared telescopes.

Full Text - InstrumentationAstronomers look to nanotechnology | PDF (197 KB) - InstrumentationAstronomers look to nanotechnology

Subject Categories: Electronic properties and devices | Nanometrology and instrumentation | Photonic structures and devices

Probe microscopy: Scanning below the cell surface - pp461 - 462

Ozgur Sahin

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.222

Conventional atomic force microscopy probes only the surface of specimens. A related technique called scanning near-field ultrasonic holography can now image nanoparticles buried below the surfaces of cells, which could prove useful in nanotoxicology.

Full Text - Probe microscopyScanning below the cell surface | PDF (202 KB) - Probe microscopyScanning below the cell surface

Subject Categories: Nanometrology and instrumentation | Nanoparticles | Surface patterning and imaging

Harnessing biological motors to engineer systems for nanoscale transport and assembly - pp465 - 475

Anita Goel & Viola Vogel

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.190

Understanding how nature's nanomotors achieve the assembly of complex molecules and the intracellular transport of cargo will enable their future application in non-natural settings and provide inspiration for the development of purely synthetic systems.

Abstract - | Full Text - Harnessing biological motors to engineer systems for nanoscale transport and assembly | PDF (4,636 KB) - Harnessing biological motors to engineer systems for nanoscale transport and assembly

Subject Categories: Molecular machines and motors | Nanobiotechnology

Formation of chiral branched nanowires by the Eshelby Twist - pp477 - 481

Jia Zhu, Hailin Peng, A. F. Marshall, D. M. Barnett, W. D. Nix & Yi Cui

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.179

The electrical, optical and mechanical properties of nanowires depend on their morphology. Nanowires that possess both chirality and a branched structure may therefore possess new material properties. Such nanowires can be formed by vapour–liquid–solid branching from a central PbSe nanowire with an axial screw dislocation.

Abstract - | Full Text - Formation of chiral branched nanowires by the Eshelby Twist | PDF (827 KB) - Formation of chiral branched nanowires by the Eshelby Twist

Subject Categories: Nanomaterials | Nanoparticles | Synthesis and processing

See also: News and Views by Deppert & Wallenberg

Ultrasonically driven nanomechanical single-electron shuttle - pp482 - 485

Daniel R. Koenig, Eva M. Weig & Jorg P. Kotthaus

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.178

Quantum co-tunnelling through a single-electron transistor limits its performance for many applications. Researchers have now built a nanomechanical single-electron shuttle driven by ultrasound waves in which co-tunnelling is suppressed. This approach could lead to the development of high-performance nanomechanical single-electron devices. (Summary revised 8 July 2008)

Abstract - | Full Text - Ultrasonically driven nanomechanical single-electron shuttle | PDF (349 KB) - Ultrasonically driven nanomechanical single-electron shuttle

Subject Categories: Electronic properties and devices | NEMS

Contact and edge effects in graphene devices - pp486 - 490

Eduardo J. H. Lee, Kannan Balasubramanian, Ralf Thomas Weitz, Marko Burghard & Klaus Kern

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.172

Scanning photocurrent microscopy has revealed that metal contacts lead to potential steps that act as transport barriers in graphene devices. The formation of p-type conducting edges surrounding a central n-type channel has also been observed at low carrier densities.

Abstract - | Full Text - Contact and edge effects in graphene devices | PDF (389 KB) - Contact and edge effects in graphene devices | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Electronic properties and devices

See also: News and Views by Freitag

Approaching ballistic transport in suspended graphene - pp491 - 495

Xu Du, Ivan Skachko, Anthony Barker & Eva Y. Andrei

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.199

The novel electronic properties of graphene can be compromised when it is supported on an insulating substrate. However, suspended graphene samples can display low-temperature mobility values that cannot be attained in semiconductors or non-suspended graphene, and the conductivity approaches ballistic values at liquid-helium temperatures.

Abstract - | Full Text - Approaching ballistic transport in suspended graphene | PDF (417 KB) - Approaching ballistic transport in suspended graphene | Supplementary information

Subject Category: Electronic properties and devices

See also: News and Views by Freitag

Ultrasensitive hot-electron nanobolometers for terahertz astrophysics - pp496 - 500

Jian Wei, David Olaya, Boris S. Karasik, Sergey V. Pereverzev, Andrei V. Sergeev & Michael E. Gershenson

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.173

By carefully controlling the heat capacity and other thermal properties of a superconducting hot-electron nanobolometer, researchers have built a device that is sufficiently sensitive to detect single terahertz photons, making it suitable for use in a future space-based terahertz telescope.

Abstract - | Full Text - Ultrasensitive hot-electron nanobolometers for terahertz astrophysics | PDF (275 KB) - Ultrasensitive hot-electron nanobolometers for terahertz astrophysics

Subject Categories: Electronic properties and devices | Nanometrology and instrumentation | Photonic structures and devices

See also: News and Views by Prober

Imaging nanoparticles in cells by nanomechanical holography - pp501 - 505

Laurene Tetard, Ali Passian, Katherine T. Venmar, Rachel M. Lynch, Brynn H. Voy, Gajendra Shekhawat, Vinayak P. Dravid & Thomas Thundat

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.162

Scanning near-field ultrasonic holography has been used to probe inside cells taken from the lungs of mice that had been exposed to carbon nanohorns, and provides evidence that these particles can enter the cells. The ability to detect nanoparticles below the cell surface could make this technique useful for studying toxicity of nanomaterials.

Abstract - | Full Text - Imaging nanoparticles in cells by nanomechanical holography | PDF (725 KB) - Imaging nanoparticles in cells by nanomechanical holography | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Nanometrology and instrumentation | Nanoparticles | Surface patterning and imaging

See also: News and Views by Sahin

Formation and enhanced biocidal activity of water-dispersable organic nanoparticles - pp506 - 511

Haifei Zhang, Dong Wang, Rachel Butler, Neil L. Campbell, James Long, Bien Tan, David J. Duncalf, Alison J. Foster, Andrew Hopkinson, David Taylor, Doris Angus, Andrew I. Cooper & Steven P. Rannard

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.188

Aqueous dispersions of nanoparticles of Triclosan — a commercial antimicrobial agent — display better biocidal activity than organic solutions of the same agent. The nanoparticles are produced by a combination of modified emulsion-templating and freeze-drying.

Abstract - | Full Text - Formation and enhanced biocidal activity of water-dispersable organic nanoparticles | PDF (564 KB) - Formation and enhanced biocidal activity of water-dispersable organic nanoparticles | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Nanomaterials | Nanoparticles | Synthesis and processing

Engineered elastomeric proteins with dual elasticity can be controlled by a molecular regulator - pp512 - 516

Yi Cao & Hongbin Li

doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.168

Elastomeric proteins similar to those found in many biological tissues have been engineered so that they can behave as springs or shock absorbers.

Abstract - | Full Text - Engineered elastomeric proteins with dual elasticity can be controlled by a molecular regulator | PDF (573 KB) - Engineered elastomeric proteins with dual elasticity can be controlled by a molecular regulator | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Molecular machines and motors | Nanobiotechnology | Nanomaterials | Nanosensors and other devices | Structural properties