Volume 6 Issue 5, May 2011

A nanostructured electrode can allow a lithium-ion battery to charge to 90% of maximum capacity in two minutes.

Pregnant mice treated 70-nm silica nanoparticles or 35-nm titanium dioxide nanoparticles suffer damage to the placenta and fetus, whereas larger nanoparticles do not have an adverse impact.

Core–shell nanoparticles can be used to release hydrogen from formic acid and could provide a convenient method for storing hydrogen.

Interactions between biomolecules can be probed with the help of technology that was developed for reading data stored on magnetic disk drives.

This article reviews the use of DNA motifs to build plasmonic molecules, polymers and crystals from individual plasmonic nanostructures.

Self-assembled nanostructured cathodes allow lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries to charge and discharge at very high rates without significant loss of capacity.

Ultrathin large-area solid-oxide membranes can be fabricated using lithographically patterned metallic grids and used to make fuel cells that operate at relatively low temperatures.

The temperatures of the graphene–metal contacts in working transistors have been measured with a resolution of ∼10 nm, revealing the presence of both heating and cooling effects.

Applying an emollient containing calcium carbonate or calcium phosphate nanoparticles can reduce skin exposure to nickel ions that cause skin allergy.

Thin films of single-wall carbon nanotube have been used to create stretchable devices that can be incorporated into clothes and used to detect human motions.

Silver nanoparticles with thin palladium shells are active and selective catalysts for the production of hydrogen from formic acid at room temperature.

A microfluidic analyser can detect individual nanoparticles and characterize complex multicomponent mixtures of nanoparticles and viruses.

Giant magnetoresistive nanosensors are used to quantify the binding kinetics of proteins at the surface of the sensor array, thus offering a sensitive assay for applications in antibody and drug development, and clinical diagnostics.

Pregnant mice treated with silica and titanium dioxide nanoparticles show abnormalities in the placenta and have smaller uterine and fetuses than untreated control mice and those receiving larger particles.