Articles in 2009

Self-assembly is a powerful technique for controlling the structure and properties of ensembles of inorganic nanoparticles. This article reviews the properties and potential applications of self-assembled structures made from nanoparticles.

Gold nanoparticles can be assembled into ordered arrays through the site-selective deposition of mesoscopic DNA origami onto lithographically patterned substrates and the precise binding of gold nanocrystals to each DNA structure.

The adhesion of single DNA molecules on modified gold surfaces can be adjusted by surface potential, and the desorption forces of these interactions are measured by single-molecule force spectroscopy.

The use of colloidal titanium dioxide particles as lenses enables single-molecule imaging to be performed at temperatures as high as 70 °C.

Asymmetric salt concentrations can be used to enhance the capture rate of DNA in solid-state nanopores and detect picomolar solutions of unlabelled DNA.

An atomic force microscope can probe both the surface and subsurface regions of a sample by exploiting nanomechanical coupling between the probe and the sample.

Nanoparticles can be assembled into superlattices and dimer clusters using a reconfigurable DNA device that also allows interparticle distances to be modified, post-assembly, in response to molecular stimuli.

The electromagnetic fields in and around nanostructures can be visualized by combining electron microscopy with intense optical pulses.

Rolling nanorods on the surface of polar liquids using a coulombically induced torque.

DNA molecules in biological samples can be detected and quantified by measuring their changes in stiffness.

A biosensor containing a microfluidic purification chip that supplies a downstream nanoribbon-detector can detect disease biomarkers in samples of whole blood.

Europium nanoparticles can be used for sensing and imaging temperature in the physiological range.

Liquid suspensions made from nanoparticles attached to short organic polymers show some remarkably slow fluid dynamics.

A nickel-based catalyst has been developed for use in hydrogen fuel cells.

A single dopant atom can dominate the subthreshold behaviour of a field-effect transistor, and this effect is enhanced if the atom is located near a dielectric.

Coordination-polymer nanostructures — grown on an insulating surface by sublimation of polymer crystals — show high electrical conductivities.

This article reviews the emergence of the atomic force microscope as a tool capable of creating nanostructures at room temperature, one atom at a time.

It is now possible to grow nanowires with abrupt junctions between different group IV semiconductors.

RTH-type zeolites can have notable catalytic properties.

Colloidal particles made from functionalized graphene sheets can enhance fuel combustion.