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

Researchers from Rice University and the University of California San Francisco have mapped the locations and activity of up to 1 million potential synaptic links in a living brain, thanks to a new 3D electrode array that records the split-second evolution of electrical pulses in tens of thousands of neurons in a cubic millimeter of brain tissue. The electrode array was made with a material called a nanoelectronic thread, which is thin, ultraflexible, and biocompatible – a trifecta of properties for making minimally invasive electrode implants. 

Researchers from Rice University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Virginia, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, Canadian Light Source Inc., and the University of Science and Technology of China have discovered a method that could make oxygen evolution catalysis in acids – one of the most challenging topics in water electrolysis for producing clean hydrogen fuels – more economical and practical. The researchers demonstrated that highly crystalline ruthenium dioxide nanoparticles with nickel dopants, used at the anode, facilitated water-splitting for more than 1,000 hours at a current density of 200 milliamps per square centimeter, with negligible degradation.

Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Alicante in Spain are studying a novel material that grows crystalline hydrogen clathrates, which can store hydrogen. The material consists of a chemically optimized, porous activated carbon that can confine hydrogen at the nanoscale with excellent thermal stability.

Researchers from the University of Arkansas and Montana State University have discovered the atomic configuration of two-atom-thick paraelectric materials. The scientists studied how atoms arrange as they turn from a ferroelectric configuration onto a paraelectric one, and what they found turned out to be rather unusual: They observed that the paraelectric behavior is actually a time average of ferroelectric configurations swapping among two polarization states.

Researchers from Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have engineered colloidal crystals – highly ordered three-dimensional arrays of nanoparticles – with complementary strands of DNA and found two things: (1) dehydration crumpled the crystals, breaking down the DNA hydrogen bonds; and (2) when water was added, the crystals bounced back to their original state within seconds. This new property, which is a type of "hyperelasticity coupled with shape memory," is controlled by the particle-interconnecting DNA's specific sequence and influences the object's structure and compressibility. 

Researchers from Oregon State University and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute have demonstrated in a mouse model that it’s possible to prompt the production of a protein that can block multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering cells and causing respiratory disease. Using messenger RNA (mRNA) packaged in lipid nanoparticles, the scientists showed in the mouse model that host cells can produce a “decoy” enzyme that binds to coronavirus spike proteins, meaning the virus shouldn’t be able to latch onto cells in the host’s airway and start the infection process.

Researchers from Northeastern University, Rensselaer Polytechnic University, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, and the University of Science and Technology of China have achieved a major advancement in nanowire synthesis by discovering a new, highly dense form of silicon and mastering a new, scalable catalyst-free etching process to produce ultra-small silicon nanowires of two to five nanometers in diameter. Through computational analysis and modeling, the researchers were able to show that despite unusual properties, the new material was a form of silicon with a very thin layer of oxide on top.

The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office is announcing Dr. Branden Brough as the new Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) and Dr. Quinn Spadola as its Deputy Director.

Dr. Brough joins the NNCO from the Molecular Foundry, a U.S. Department of Energy-funded nanoscale science research center that provides users from around the world with access to cutting-edge expertise and instrumentation. He will also serve as OSTP’s Assistant Director for Nanotechnology. As the Molecular Foundry’s Deputy Director, Dr. Brough was responsible for helping guide the organization’s scientific plans and initiatives, while also managing the center’s operations. Before joining the Molecular Foundry, Dr. Brough worked at the NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, where he led strategic policy and planning activities, as well as Congressional and public outreach efforts. Dr. Brough received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering – focusing on the integration of synthetic motor molecules and natural self-assembling proteins into micro/nanotechnologies – from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Dr. Spadola was the Associate Director of Education for the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), a network of open nanotechnology laboratory user facilities supported by the National Science Foundation, and the Director of Education and Outreach for the Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor NNCI site at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Spadola was the Education and Outreach Coordinator and a Technical Advisor to the Director at NNCO. She received her Ph.D. in physics from Arizona State University and her MFA in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University.

More information is available at: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Marks National Nanotechnology Day 2022.

A team of researchers at Northwestern University has devised a new platform for gene editing that could inform the future application of a near-limitless library of CRISPR-based therapeutics. The new work provides a system to deliver the cargo required for generating the gene editing machine known as CRISPR-Cas9. The team developed a way to transform the Cas9 protein into a spherical nucleic acid and load it with critical components required to access a broad range of tissue and cell types, as well as the intracellular compartments required for gene editing. Spherical nucleic acids are structures typically comprised of spherical nanoparticles densely covered with DNA or RNA.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have created a new type of microelectrode array for brain computer interface platforms. It holds the potential to transform how doctors can treat neurological disorders. The ultra-high-density microelectrode array, which is 3D-printed at the nanoscale, is fully customizable. This means that one day, patients suffering from epilepsy or limb function loss due to stroke could have personalized medical treatment optimized for their individual needs.