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

Date Published
(Funded by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

Scientists at Rice University have developed an easy and affordable tool to count and characterize nanoparticles. The scientists created an open-source program to acquire data about nanoparticles from scanning electron microscope images that are otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to analyze.

(Funded by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

Scientists at Rice University have developed an easy and affordable tool to count and characterize nanoparticles. The scientists created an open-source program to acquire data about nanoparticles from scanning electron microscope images that are otherwise difficult, if not impossible, to analyze.

(Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

In recent years, researchers have found that when certain materials are twisted at specific angles, they can bring out some remarkable properties. Now, a team of researchers has found that when two layers of graphene are twisted at an angle of less than 2 degrees, they have a very strong, and tunable, photoresponse in mid-infrared wavelength range. Compared with regular bilayer graphene that hasn’t been twisted, the photoresponse is more than 20 times stronger.

(Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

In recent years, researchers have found that when certain materials are twisted at specific angles, they can bring out some remarkable properties. Now, a team of researchers has found that when two layers of graphene are twisted at an angle of less than 2 degrees, they have a very strong, and tunable, photoresponse in mid-infrared wavelength range. Compared with regular bilayer graphene that hasn’t been twisted, the photoresponse is more than 20 times stronger.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has synthesized a tiny structure with high surface area and discovered how its unique architecture drives ions across interfaces to transport energy or information. The structure, called a nanobrush, contains bristles made of alternating crystal sheets with vertically aligned interfaces and many pores. The nanoscale bristles were made with a novel precision synthesis approach that controls atom diffusion and aggregation during the growth of thin-film materials.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has synthesized a tiny structure with high surface area and discovered how its unique architecture drives ions across interfaces to transport energy or information. The structure, called a nanobrush, contains bristles made of alternating crystal sheets with vertically aligned interfaces and many pores. The nanoscale bristles were made with a novel precision synthesis approach that controls atom diffusion and aggregation during the growth of thin-film materials.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that using a nanovesicle (a nanotechnology drug-delivery system) that contains a combination of a cell protein and a phospholipid can selectively target pancreatic cancer cells while sparing unaffected cells and tissues. By using both animal models and human cancer cells, the researchers demonstrated that the nanovesicles inhibited tumor growth and could potentially increase survival of pancreatic cancer patients.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health)

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that using a nanovesicle (a nanotechnology drug-delivery system) that contains a combination of a cell protein and a phospholipid can selectively target pancreatic cancer cells while sparing unaffected cells and tissues. By using both animal models and human cancer cells, the researchers demonstrated that the nanovesicles inhibited tumor growth and could potentially increase survival of pancreatic cancer patients.

(Funded by the U.S. Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Science Foundation)

MIT researchers have developed a new way of making large sheets of high-quality, atomically thin graphene, which could lead to ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells and new classes of light-emitting devices. The new manufacturing process should be relatively easy to scale up for industrial production and involves an intermediate “buffer” layer of material that is key to the technique’s success. The buffer allows the ultrathin graphene sheet to be easily lifted off from its substrate, allowing for rapid roll-to-roll manufacturing.

(Funded by the U.S. Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the National Science Foundation)

MIT researchers have developed a new way of making large sheets of high-quality, atomically thin graphene, which could lead to ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells and new classes of light-emitting devices. The new manufacturing process should be relatively easy to scale up for industrial production and involves an intermediate “buffer” layer of material that is key to the technique’s success. The buffer allows the ultrathin graphene sheet to be easily lifted off from its substrate, allowing for rapid roll-to-roll manufacturing.