Nano News: 02/05/15

Diamond microscope

Proteins are the building blocks of all living things, and they exist in virtually unlimited varieties, most of whose highly complex structures have not yet been determined. Those structures could be key to developing new drugs or to understanding basic biological processes. But figuring out the arrangement of atoms in these complicated, folded molecules...

Precision growth of light-emitting nanowires

A novel approach to growing nanowires promises a new means of control over their light-emitting and electronic properties. In a recent issue of ("Catalyst-Directed Crystallographic Orientation Control of GaN Nanowire Growth"), scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) demonstrated a new growth technique...

Physics breakthrough stalled by magnetic disorder

Exotic new materials called “ferromagnetic topological insulators” were supposed to be the next big thing, offering potential breakthroughs in electronics and new insights into the physics of solids – but it hasn’t happened. Researchers at Cornell and Brookhaven National Laboratory have found out that tinkering with the materials to make the insulators...

Probing qualities at the tips of nanocones

One of the ways of improving electrons manipulation is though better control over one of their inner characteristics, called spin. This approach is the object of an entire field of study, known as spintronics. Now, Richard Pincak from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and colleagues have just uncovered...

'Nanorama Laboratory' - a free tool on safe handling of nanomaterials

The Nanorama Laboratory is one of three interactive educational tools available on the Nano-Platform Safe Handling of Nanomaterials; to date, the platform and the remaining “Nanoramas” are available in German). The “Nanorama Laboratory“, an interactive online tool on the safe handling of nanomaterials, is now available in English. The tool, developed...

A straightforward, rapid and continuous method to protect MOF nanocrystals against water

Many Metal-Organic Frameworks are water labile, including the iconic Hong-Kong University of Science and Technology-1 (HKUST-1), which is very promising for many industrial applications. In an article published in ("Protecting Metal–Organic Framework Crystals from Hydrolytic Degradation by Spray-Dry Encapsulating Them into Polystyrene Microspheres")...