Volume 6 Issue 6, June 2011

The observation of nonlinear damping in resonators made from carbon nanotubes and graphene should lead to an improved understanding of energy losses in nanomechanical devices.

Experiments on the uptake of gold nanoparticles by cells grown in different cell culture configurations suggest that the influence of sedimentation should be taken into account when performing in vitro studies.

Layered films of two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks with accessible and aligned pores can be created on graphene surfaces using a solvothermal condensation reaction.

A lens that randomly scatters light can beat the resolution of a conventional lens by at least a factor of two.

Most mechanical resonators operate in a linear damping regime, but the behaviour of nanotube and graphene resonators is best described by a model with nonlinear damping.

Single-electron transistors are written at the heterointerface of two oxides using an atomic force microscope tip, and the electrons in the device can be controlled by gating and the ferroelectric state of the heterostructure.

Arrays of cadmium selenide nanocrystals capped with molecular metal chalcogenide complexes exhibit high values of electron mobility and photoconductivity.

It is possible to form covalent bonds between the gold atoms in an electrode and the carbon atoms in the backbone of a conducting molecule to create highly conducting contacts.

The orientation, spin coherence times and spin energy levels of individual nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy centres have been measured inside living human cells with nanoscale precision.

Colloidal dispersions of carbon nanotubes in polymers can be used to make electrically conductive composites with percolation thresholds that can be tailored by adding latex particles.

A new magneto-optical material consisting of a nanostructured gold film on top of a ferromagnetic dielectric demonstrated significantly enhanced Faraday and Kerr effects.

Composites composed of single-walled carbon nanotubes and titania nanocrystals can be synthesized using a genetically engineered M13 virus as a template, and used to create highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.

The cellular uptake of gold nanoparticles is sensitive to the way cells are positioned and the effects of nanoparticle sedimentation on uptake should be considered in future in vitro studies of large and/or heavy nanoparticles.