Volume 5 Issue 1, January 2010

We have made some nanochanges.

Nanoscale objects cannot be seen in the traditional sense, but that should not stop us from thinking about how we visualize the nanoworld, as Chris Toumey reports.

Gold has risen from relative obscurity to command a place at the forefront of catalysis research, but when will nanoscale gold catalysts be ready for industrial applications?

An assay based on gold nanoparticles could detect recurrences of prostate cancer sooner than is possible with existing techniques.

An optical probe has been developed for the chemical mapping of materials at the nanoscale by combining plasmonics, Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy.

A new method has been developed for extracting Cooper pairs from a superconductor and splitting them. The next challenge is to show that these unpaired electrons are entangled.

Using oxide interface engineering, researchers have shown that a single layer of copper and oxygen atoms can support superconductivity in a bilayer structure made from a metal and an insulator.

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.

Electrically induced light emission from an individual carbon nanotube p–n diode is both more efficient and has a narrower spectrum than previously demonstrated, allowing emission from free and localized excitons to be identified.

A new hybrid phonon–exciton excited state in bilayer graphene can be tuned electrically, with possible application to phonon lasers.

Direct observations of domain walls and flux distributions in manganite have shed new light on the dynamics of the ferromagnetic phase in colossal magnetoresistance.

Nanoparticles functionalized with ligands that target tumours can be cleared from the body through the kidneys if they have a hydrodynamic diameter of less than 5.5 nm.

Nanocapsules with polymeric shells can effectively deliver proteins into cells to trigger the activity of its substrates that are inside the cells.

A nanoscale electrode assembly consisting of nanoparticles with tailored conductivity deposited above or below a functional nanoparticle film is demonstrated in sensor devices that achieve 20 ppb ethanol gas sensitivity.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes can be self-assembled into cross junctions using DNA origami, establishing these structures as programmable nanobreadboards.

A photonic–plasmonic device — which can be used as a tip for an atomic force microscope and also as a nanoscale light source for near-field Raman excitation — allows topographic, chemical and structural information to be obtained with a spatial resolution of 7 nm.

Photosynthetic nanoparticles obtained from a thermophilic bacterium can produce a stable supply of hydrogen at temperatures up to 55 °C with a yield that is approximately 25 times greater than current hydrogen production strategies.

Tiny copolymer micelles can effectively restore locomotion in rats after spinal cord injury.