Science

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Photochromic Nanostructures; Tools to Detect, Tract Living Cells

Researchers from Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute (IPPI) succeeded in the laboratorial production of nanostructures with the ability to change color under UV light and application in various fields, including medicine, production of optical lenses, cell tracing, data storage and security systems.

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SiC Nanoparticles Applied to Modify Properties of Portland Cement

Iranian researchers from University of Mazandaran used silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles to produce a sample of cement and concrete with high durability and stability.

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New LED with luminescent proteins

Scientists from Germany and Spain have discovered a way to create a BioLED by packaging luminescent proteins in the form of rubber. This innovative device gives off a white light which is created by equal parts of blue, green and red rubber layers covering one LED, thus rendering the same effect as with traditional inorganic LEDs but at a lower cost.

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This image shows rubber with red, green and blue luminescent proteins used to produce the BioLEDs.

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How copper makes organic light-emitting diodes more efficient: KIT researchers measure intersystem crossing directly in a thermally activated delayed fluorescence copper complex -- publication in Science Advances

Use of copper as a fluorescent material allows for the manufacture of inexpensive and environmentally compatible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Thermally activated delayed fuorescence (TADF) ensures high light yield. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), CYNORA, and the University of St Andrews have now measured the underlying quantum mechanics phenomenon of intersystem crossing in a copper complex. The results of this fundamental contribute to enhancing the energy efficiency of OLEDs.

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Thanks to knowledge of their quantum mechanics, dyes can be customized for use in organic light-emitting diodes.

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How seashells get their strength: Study shows how calcium carbonate forms composites to make strong materials such as in shells and pearls

Seashells and lobster claws are hard to break, but chalk is soft enough to draw on sidewalks. Though all three are made of calcium carbonate crystals, the hard materials include clumps of soft biological matter that make them much stronger. A study today in Nature Communications reveals how soft clumps get into crystals and endow them with remarkable strength.

The results show that such clumps become incorporated via chemical interactions with atoms in the crystals, an unexpected mechanism based on previous understanding. By providing insight into the formation of natural minerals that are a composite of both soft and hard components, the work will help scientists develop new materials for a sustainable energy future, based on this principle.

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Tiny 'flasks' speed up chemical reactions: Self-assembling nanosphere clusters may improve everything from drug synthesis to drug delivery

Miniature self-assembling "flasks" created at the Weizmann Institute may prove a useful tool in research and industry. The nanoflasks, which have a span of several nanometers, or millionths of a millimeter, can accelerate chemical reactions for research. In the future, they might facilitate the manufacture of various industrial materials and perhaps even serve as vehicles for drug delivery.

Dr. Rafal Klajn of the Weizmann Institute's Organic Chemistry Department and his team were originally studying the light-induced self-assembly of nanoparticles. They were employing a method earlier developed by Klajn in which inorganic nanoparticles are coated in a single layer of organic molecules that change their configuration when exposed to light; these alter the properties of the nanoparticles such that they self-assemble into crystalline clusters. When spherical nanoparticles of gold or other materials self-assembled into a cluster, empty spaces formed between them, like those between oranges packed in a case. Klajn and his team members realized that the empty spaces sometimes trapped water molecules, which led them to suggest that they could also trap "guest" molecules of other materials and function as tiny flasks for chemical reactions. A cluster of a million nanoparticles would contain a million such nanoflasks.

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Scientists call for new tools to explore the world's microbiomes

In October, an interdisciplinary group of scientists proposed forming a Unified Microbiome Initiative (UMI) to explore the world of microorganisms that are central to life on Earth and yet largely remain a mystery.

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Understanding microbiomes — human and otherwise — will require a suite of advanced new tools.

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Aluminum nanoparticles could improve electronic displays

Whether showing off family photos on smartphones or watching TV shows on laptops, many people look at liquid crystal displays (LCDs) every day. LCDs are continually being improved, but almost all currently use color technology that fades over time. Now, a team reports in ACS Nano that using aluminum nanostructures could provide a vivid, low-cost alternative for producing digital color.

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A set of vivid red, green and blue pixels based on aluminum nanostructures are shown in a liquid crystal display (left: schematic, right: digital photograph).

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Nanowalls for smartphones

From smartphones to the operating interfaces of ticket machines and cash dispensers, every touchscreen we use requires transparent electrodes: The devices' glass surface is coated with a barely visible pattern made of conductive material. It is because of this that the devices recognise whether and where exactly a finger is touching the surface.

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With a special mode of electrohydrodynamic ink-jet printing scientists can create a grid of ultra fine gold walls.

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Using nanoparticles to combat arteriosclerosis: Researchers at the University of Bonn have developed a method for cell replacement in diseased vessels

In industrialized countries, a particularly high number of people suffer from arteriosclerosis -- with fatal consequences: Deposits in the arteries lead to strokes and heart attacks. A team of researchers under the leadership of the University of Bonn has now developed a method for guiding replacement cells to diseased vascular segments using nanoparticles. The scientists demonstrated in mice that the fresh cells actually exert their curative effect in these segments. However, much research remains to be done prior to use in humans.

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On the left are fluorescence-labeled cells with nanoparticles: The cellular nuclei are shown in blue, the fluorescence labeling is shown in green and the nanoparticles in the cells are identified by arrows. The middle photo shows a blood vessel populated with these cells (green). On the right is a detailed image of a vascular wall with the eNOS protein identified (red).