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

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of South Florida Health Heart Institute have shown that an experimental nanoparticle-based drug therapy protects mice from sudden death due to the rupture of a major blood vessel in the abdomen, pointing the way toward a new strategy for treating deadly abdominal aortic aneurysms. The researchers used nanoparticles to deliver anti-inflammatory payloads directly to inflamed blood vessels. 

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories have developed synaptic transistors for brain-like computers using the thin, flexible material graphene. These transistors are similar to synapses in the brain, which connect neurons to each other, and they can interact with living cells and tissue.

Researchers from Columbia University and Rover Diagnostics have built a platform that detects genetic material from viruses, gives results in 23 minutes, and matches laboratory-based tests. The platform leverages plasmonic nanoparticles – discrete metallic particles that respond to infrared light by releasing heat – and can be adapted to test for COVID-19, the flu, strep, and other viruses that require fast diagnosis.

Researchers from Penn State, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, and Beihang University have developed a new water-resistant gas sensor that can accurately and continuously monitor nitrogen dioxide and other gases in humid environments. The sensor detects nitrogen dioxide in breath, the concentration of which may indicate potential pulmonary diseases. The researchers used laser-induced graphene, a speedy, cost-effective, environmentally friendly fabrication method that uses laser writing to assemble two-dimensional graphene layers.

A team of researchers from George Washington University has found that a type of membrane called an electrospun nanofiber membrane can capture up to 99.9% of coronavirus aerosols. The researchers also found that by adding a chemical dye called rose bengal to electrospun nanofiber membranes, more than 97% of coronavirus-laden droplets could be inactivated after 15 minutes of exposure under a regular desk lamp. According to the researchers, electrospun nanofibrous membranes that can capture and kill airborne environmental pathogens under ambient conditions hold promise for broad applications as personal protective equipment and indoor air filters.

TV Worldwide, a web-based global TV network, has released a retrospective video and video trailer on the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) entitled, “NNI Retrospective Video: Creating a National Initiative.” The retrospective video features short interviews with leaders and professionals involved in the NNI who discuss the creation and implementation of the NNI over the past two decades.

Researchers at Rice University have shown that sanding a surface increases its ability to shed water without getting wet and that grinding in a powder at the same time makes it superhydrophobic. The researchers applied the technique on a variety of surfaces – including polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride – with a variety of powder additives, which included laser-induced graphene fibers, turbostratic flash graphene, and molybdenum disulfide. 

By applying a 19th-century color photography technique to modern holographic materials, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have printed large-scale images onto elastic materials that, when stretched, can change color. The scientists adhered elastic, transparent holographic film onto a reflective, mirror-like surface. Then, they placed an off-the-shelf projector several feet from the film and projected images onto each sample. They peeled the film away from the mirror, stuck it to a black elastic silicone backing for support, and stretched it. The researchers observed that when the film stretches and thins out, its nanoscale structures reconfigure to reflect slightly different wavelengths, for instance, changing from red to blue.

For the first time, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sorbonne University in Paris have been able to act physically on chromosomes in living cells. By subjecting the chromosomes to different forces, they discovered that chromosomes are almost liquid outside cell division phases. To reach this conclusion, the scientists attached magnetic nanoparticles to a small portion of a chromosome in a living cell. Then, they stretched the chromosome, thanks to a micro-magnet outside the cell.

Using single calcite crystals with varying surface roughness allows engineers to simplify the complex physics that describes fault movement. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have shown how this simplification may lead to better earthquake prediction. The researchers examined the nanoscale processes that may trigger fault movement and used microscopic observations to bridge the gap between the nanoscale and macroscale worlds.