News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

In an effort to gauge the full potential of 2D polymers – which have a repeatable, symmetric pattern akin to "chicken wire” – researchers from the U.S. Army and Northeastern University have started to computationally design 2D polymers in the hopes that they may develop a superior alternative to conventional aramid fibers, for applications such as armor and fire-resistant clothing. Through computer simulations, the researchers compared the thermal stability of the 1D polymer Kevlar; a 2D polymer called an amide covalent organic framework, known as amCOF; and a hypothetical 2D polymer designed by the laboratory, called graphamid. The results showed that graphamid could potentially withstand temperatures as high as 700 degrees Celsius, which exceeds the limits of both Kevlar and amCOF.

A team led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has captured real-time high-resolution videos of liquid structures taking shape, as nanoparticle surfactants – soap-like particles just billionths of a meter in size – jam tightly together, side by side, to form a solid-like layer at the interface between oil and water. Their findings could help researchers better optimize liquid structures to advance reconfigurable microfluidics for drug discovery and all-liquid robotics for targeted cancer drug delivery.

A team led by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has captured real-time high-resolution videos of liquid structures taking shape, as nanoparticle surfactants – soap-like particles just billionths of a meter in size – jam tightly together, side by side, to form a solid-like layer at the interface between oil and water. Their findings could help researchers better optimize liquid structures to advance reconfigurable microfluidics for drug discovery and all-liquid robotics for targeted cancer drug delivery.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University; the University of Nevada, Reno; and the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, have described a way to measure levels of a specific kind of carbon nanotube in plant tissues. The researchers grew hydroponic lettuce in the presence of carbon nanotubes and then analyzed the lettuce leaves for traces of carbon nanotubes. This is the first study to measure levels of this kind of carbon nanotube in plants by using thermal analysis.

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University; the University of Nevada, Reno; and the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, have described a way to measure levels of a specific kind of carbon nanotube in plant tissues. The researchers grew hydroponic lettuce in the presence of carbon nanotubes and then analyzed the lettuce leaves for traces of carbon nanotubes. This is the first study to measure levels of this kind of carbon nanotube in plants by using thermal analysis.

Researchers at Georgia Tech have found a method to engineer membranes made from graphene oxide, a chemically resistant material based on carbon, so they can work effectively in industrial applications. Many industries that use large amounts of water in their production processes may stand to benefit from using these graphene oxide nanofiltration membranes.

Researchers at Georgia Tech have found a method to engineer membranes made from graphene oxide, a chemically resistant material based on carbon, so they can work effectively in industrial applications. Many industries that use large amounts of water in their production processes may stand to benefit from using these graphene oxide nanofiltration membranes.

By discovering a new printable biomaterial that can mimic properties of brain tissue, researchers at Northwestern University are close to developing a platform capable of treating neurodegenerative diseases or brain and spinal cord injuries using regenerative medicine. A key ingredient to the discovery is the ability to control the self-assembly processes of molecules within the material, enabling the researchers to modify the structure and functions of systems from the nanoscale to the scale of visible features. The researchers showed that materials can be designed to migrate over long distances and self-organize to form larger, “superstructured” bundles of nanofibers.

By discovering a new printable biomaterial that can mimic properties of brain tissue, researchers at Northwestern University are close to developing a platform capable of treating neurodegenerative diseases or brain and spinal cord injuries using regenerative medicine. A key ingredient to the discovery is the ability to control the self-assembly processes of molecules within the material, enabling the researchers to modify the structure and functions of systems from the nanoscale to the scale of visible features. The researchers showed that materials can be designed to migrate over long distances and self-organize to form larger, “superstructured” bundles of nanofibers.

Engineers at Caltech have developed a technique that allows them to precisely place microscopic devices formed from folded DNA molecules not only in a specific location but also in a specific orientation. As a proof-of-concept, the engineers arranged more than 3,000 glowing moon-shaped nanoscale molecular devices into a flower-shaped instrument for indicating the polarization of light. This method for precisely placing and orienting DNA-based molecular devices may make it possible to use these molecular devices to power new kinds of chips that integrate molecular biosensors with optics and electronics for applications such as DNA sequencing or measuring the concentrations of thousands of proteins at once.