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Mesoporous structures with well-ordered nanoscale channels could be used in a variety of applications, but our understanding of the growth of such structures through self-assembly is incomplete. Now Jens Michaelis, Christoph Bräuchle and co-workers have observed the self-assembly of a mesoporous silica film in real time using fluorescence polarization imaging and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This AFM image has been overlaid with white lines showing the direction of the pores as determined from the polarization images.
There is a growing literature on the use of science to inform decisions on the environmental, health and safety implications of nanotechnology, but little has been published by those who make such decisions. Here, as officials of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, we discuss the types of decision facing government regulators, the new considerations nanotechnology brings to decision-making, the role of science in informing decisions, how regulators cooperate internationally on policy issues, and the challenges that lie ahead.
Mechanical vibrations in piezoelectric structures induced by green laser light can efficiently produce electromagnetic radiation at terahertz frequencies.
Changing the configuration of block copolymer coatings with the aim of circumventing the body's defence system instead triggers the immune system differently.
The formation of an atomic-scale metal filament at the end of an atomic force microscope will pave the way for higher-resolution imaging by AFMs with functionalized tips.
The growth of mesoporous silica layers on a flat substrate can be observed in real time using fluorescence polarization imaging and atomic force microscopy.
Core–shell zinc oxide microspheres mechanically vibrate and emit radiation at terahertz frequencies with a quantum emission efficiency of 33% when illuminated by a continuous-wave green laser.
A slab of plasmonic nanorod metamaterial less than one wavelength thick exhibits an 80% change in transmission when illuminated by a weak control light beam.
Spin-coherence times of ∼0.9 µs and Rabi oscillations with frequencies between 2 and 20 MHz have been observed in colloidal ZnO quantum dots doped with Mn2+.
Interactions between RNA strands and ribosomal proteins can be used to make functional nanostructures that could have applications in nanomedicine and synthetic biology.
Pretreating rats with amine-modified single-walled carbon nanotubes can decrease brain injury and enhance recovery of behavioural functions after a stroke.
The kinetics of DNA hybridization can be explored by measuring the conductance of a carbon nanotube that has a single strand of DNA covalently attached to a point defect.