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

Date Published
(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research)

Scientists at Rice University have confirmed, for the first time, that Brownian motion of boron nitride nanotubes in solution is the same as for carbon nanotubes. Brownian motion is the random way particles move in a fluid, like dust in air. This discovery means that boron nitride nanotubes can be used in liquid-phase processing for the large-scale production of films, fibers, and composites.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research)

Scientists at Rice University have confirmed, for the first time, that Brownian motion of boron nitride nanotubes in solution is the same as for carbon nanotubes. Brownian motion is the random way particles move in a fluid, like dust in air. This discovery means that boron nitride nanotubes can be used in liquid-phase processing for the large-scale production of films, fibers, and composites.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

The performance of magnetic storage and memory devices depends on the magnetization dynamics of nanometer-scale magnetic elements called nanomagnets. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have developed a new optical technique that enables efficient analysis of single nanomagnets as small as 75 nanometers in diameter, which enabled the researchers to extract critical information for optimizing device performance.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

The performance of magnetic storage and memory devices depends on the magnetization dynamics of nanometer-scale magnetic elements called nanomagnets. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have developed a new optical technique that enables efficient analysis of single nanomagnets as small as 75 nanometers in diameter, which enabled the researchers to extract critical information for optimizing device performance.

(Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory)

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated that carbon nanotube field-effect transistors can be made swiftly in commercial facilities with the same equipment used to manufacture the silicon-based transistors that are the backbone of today's computing industry. Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors are more energy-efficient than silicon field-effect transistors and could be used to build new types of three-dimensional microprocessors. After analyzing the deposition technique used to make carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, the researchers made some changes to speed up the fabrication process by more than 1,100 times compared to the conventional method, while also reducing the cost of production.

(Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory)

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated that carbon nanotube field-effect transistors can be made swiftly in commercial facilities with the same equipment used to manufacture the silicon-based transistors that are the backbone of today's computing industry. Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors are more energy-efficient than silicon field-effect transistors and could be used to build new types of three-dimensional microprocessors. After analyzing the deposition technique used to make carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, the researchers made some changes to speed up the fabrication process by more than 1,100 times compared to the conventional method, while also reducing the cost of production.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health)

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new method to conduct spectroscopic nanoscopy, which enables imaging of objects at the nanoscale and could help researchers understand complicated biomolecular interactions and characterize cells and diseases at the single-molecule level. While current spectroscopic single-molecule localization microscopy techniques achieve super-resolution imaging and single-molecule spectroscopy simultaneously, current designs suffer from reduced imaging resolution and spectral precision. When compared to existing techniques using the same number of photons, the researchers found that the new system improved the spatial precision by 42% and spectral precision by 10%.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health)

Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a new method to conduct spectroscopic nanoscopy, which enables imaging of objects at the nanoscale and could help researchers understand complicated biomolecular interactions and characterize cells and diseases at the single-molecule level. While current spectroscopic single-molecule localization microscopy techniques achieve super-resolution imaging and single-molecule spectroscopy simultaneously, current designs suffer from reduced imaging resolution and spectral precision. When compared to existing techniques using the same number of photons, the researchers found that the new system improved the spatial precision by 42% and spectral precision by 10%.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

A Northwestern University-led team has developed a highly porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. With an ability to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil, the sponge could be used to clean up oil spills inexpensively and efficiently without harming marine life. The secret lies in a nanocomposite coating of magnetic nanostructures and a carbon-based substrate that is oleophilic (attracts oil), hydrophobic (resists water), and magnetic. The nanocomposite's nanoporous 3D structure selectively interacts with and binds to the oil molecules, capturing and storing the oil until it is squeezed out.  

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

A Northwestern University-led team has developed a highly porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. With an ability to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil, the sponge could be used to clean up oil spills inexpensively and efficiently without harming marine life. The secret lies in a nanocomposite coating of magnetic nanostructures and a carbon-based substrate that is oleophilic (attracts oil), hydrophobic (resists water), and magnetic. The nanocomposite's nanoporous 3D structure selectively interacts with and binds to the oil molecules, capturing and storing the oil until it is squeezed out.