Nanotechnology

Swiss scientists have created a minor sensation in synthetic chemistry. The team of scientists from ETH Zurich and Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, succeeded for the first time in producing regularly ordered planar polymers that form a kind of «molecular carpet» on a nanometer scale. Back in 1920 at ETH Zurich, the chemist Hermann Staudinger postulated the existence of macromolecules consisting of many identical modules strung together like a chain...Read Full Story

Physicists at the University of New South Wales have observed a new kind of interaction that can arise between electrons in a single-atom silicon transistor. The findings, published in January in the journal Physical Review Letters, offer a more complete understanding of the mechanisms for electron transport in nanostructures at the atomic level. The study is already available on  arXiv . “We have been able to study some of the most complicated transport mechanisms that can arise up to the...Read Full Story

The world’s strongest neutron beam is produced by a scientific instrument at the research neutron source FRM II (Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz) at the Technischen Universitaet Muenchen (TUM). But that is not all: During the long maintenance break in 2011, the instrument PGAA (Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis) was improved to give it the best ratio between usable neutrons and noisy background radiation worldwide. It is now possible to determine the elementary composition of...Read Full Story

Some cool ac electrolysis images: Multi-walled carbon nanotube DoITPoMS , University of Cambridge A variety of techniques may be used for the synthesis of carbon nanotubes. These include electrolysis of molten salts with a graphite cathode, chemical vapour deposition, and striking graphite with an electric arc. This multi-walled tube was produced by the catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon gas. The graphitic planes are clearly visible and a thin layer of amorphous carbon can be seen on...Read Full Story

Rice University researchers show how far nanoparticle chains can carry a signal Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University. A new paper in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters shows how even disordered collections of nanoparticles in arrays as thin as 150 nanometers can be turned into waveguides and transmit signals an order of...Read Full Story