Nanowerk August 14, 2023 Many scientists believe that the key to designing and programming more complex and useful artificial nanosystems relies on our ability to understand and better employ molecular languages developed by living organisms, namely allostery (molecule binds and modifies the structure of another molecule) and multivalency, (facilitates (or not) the binding of a third molecule by simply increasing its binding interface). As a proof-of-concept researchers in Canada engineered a highly programmable DNA-based switch that could be triggered by either a multivalent or an allosteric DNA activator. By precisely designing the binding interface of the multivalent activator, they showed […]
Category Archives: Nanotechnology
Controlling ultrastrong light-matter coupling at room temperature
EurekAlert September 23, 2020 Ultrastrong coupling is a distinct regime of electromagnetic interaction that enables a rich variety of intriguing physical phenomena. An international team of researchers (Sweden, Russia, Poland) used a plasmonic nanorod array positioned at the antinode of a resonant optical Fabry-Pérot microcavity to reach the ultrastrong coupling (USC) regime at ambient conditions and without the use of magnetic fields. From optical measurements they extracted the value of the interaction strength over the transition energy as high as g/ω ~ 0.55, deep in the USC regime, while the nanorod array occupies only ∼4% of the cavity volume. They indirectly observed […]
New materials for extra thin computer chips
EurekAlert July 13, 2020 To realize the full potential of nanoelectronic devices based on 2D materials they have to be placed on the appropriate substrate, and an insulator layer is also needed on top of it, an insulator that is extremely thin and of extremely good quality. An international team of researchers (Austria, Russia, China, USA – UT Austin, Germany, Italy) has achieved excellent results with special crystals containing fluorine atoms. A transistor prototype with a calcium fluoride insulator has provided convincing data, and other materials are still being analysed. The new electrically conductive 2D materials can be combined with […]
Sugar-coated nanosheets developed to selectively target pathogens
Science Daily March 29, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, New York University) created the synthesized nanosheets out of self-assembling, bio-inspired polymers called peptoids. The sheets were designed to present simple sugars in a patterned way along their surfaces. Picking the right sugars to bind to the peptoid nanosheets, in the right distributions, can determine which pathogens will be drawn to them. They confirmed that the bindings with the targeted proteins were successful. The peptoid platform is rugged and stable, it can be deployed into the field for tests of bioagents by military personnel […]
Magnetic nanoparticles will help stop internal bleeding 15 times more effectively
Nanowerk February 28, 2018 Researchers in Russia used magnet-driven nanoparticles consisting of two key components – thrombin, an enzyme responsible for blood clotting and magnetite. Thrombin interacts with the protein called fibrinogen and triggers clot formation to block the damaged vessel. The thrombin is wrapped into a special porous matrix made of magnetite that allows for precise control of the movement of particles inside the body using an external magnetic field. A drug based on these nanoparticles is nontoxic and can be injected intravenously and delivered straight to the site of a vascular injury. It can accelerate local clot formation […]