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

Engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have combined atomic-scale experimentation with computer modeling to determine how much energy it takes to bend multilayer graphene – a question that has eluded scientists since graphene was first isolated. By draping multiple layers of graphene over a step just one to five atoms high, the researchers created a controlled and precise way of measuring how the material would bend over the step in different configurations.

Scientists have long been puzzled by the existence of so-called "buckyballs"—complex carbon molecules with a soccer-ball-like structure—throughout interstellar space. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Arizona has proposed a mechanism for their formation. The scientists suggest that buckyballs are derived from the silicon carbide dust made by dying stars, which is then hit by high temperatures, shock waves, and high-energy particles, leeching silicon from the surface and leaving carbon behind.

Scientists have long been puzzled by the existence of so-called "buckyballs"—complex carbon molecules with a soccer-ball-like structure—throughout interstellar space. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Arizona has proposed a mechanism for their formation. The scientists suggest that buckyballs are derived from the silicon carbide dust made by dying stars, which is then hit by high temperatures, shock waves, and high-energy particles, leeching silicon from the surface and leaving carbon behind.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and their colleagues have developed an optical switch that routes light from one computer chip to another in just 20 billionths of a second—faster than any other similar device. The new switch combines nanometer-scale gold and silicon optical, electrical and mechanical components, all densely packed, to channel light into and out of a miniature racetrack, alter its speed, and change its direction of travel.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and their colleagues have developed an optical switch that routes light from one computer chip to another in just 20 billionths of a second—faster than any other similar device. The new switch combines nanometer-scale gold and silicon optical, electrical and mechanical components, all densely packed, to channel light into and out of a miniature racetrack, alter its speed, and change its direction of travel.

Researchers at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a new technique, called erythrocyte-leveraged chemotherapy (ELeCt), that smuggles drug-loaded nanoparticles into cancerous lung tissue by mounting them onto the body's own red blood cells (erythrocytes). When the red blood cells made it through the lungs’ tiny capillaries, the nanoparticles were taken up by lung cells with tenfold greater success than free-floating nanoparticles.

Researchers at Harvard University's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a new technique, called erythrocyte-leveraged chemotherapy (ELeCt), that smuggles drug-loaded nanoparticles into cancerous lung tissue by mounting them onto the body's own red blood cells (erythrocytes). When the red blood cells made it through the lungs’ tiny capillaries, the nanoparticles were taken up by lung cells with tenfold greater success than free-floating nanoparticles.

Scientists at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory, a Department of Energy Office of Science user facility, have designed and connected two different artificial cells to each other to produce molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the fundamental unit that all living things use to carry and provide energy to run processes in cells. This artificial cell design uses nanorods made of silver and gold to create a biological cell wall similar to cell walls found in nature. The synthetic protocell model offers opportunities for developing alternative solar-to-chemical energy conversion systems.

Scientists at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory, a Department of Energy Office of Science user facility, have designed and connected two different artificial cells to each other to produce molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the fundamental unit that all living things use to carry and provide energy to run processes in cells. This artificial cell design uses nanorods made of silver and gold to create a biological cell wall similar to cell walls found in nature. The synthetic protocell model offers opportunities for developing alternative solar-to-chemical energy conversion systems.

The world of aerospace increasingly relies on carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites to build the structures of satellites, rockets, and jet aircraft. But the life of those materials is limited by how they handle heat. A team of researchers from Florida A&M University - Florida State University College of Engineering has developed a design for a heat shield that uses carbon nanotubes and better protects those extremely fast machines.