Nanomaterials

Zapping hydrogen out of water through electrolysis is the cleanest way to produce the fuel, but that requires rare-Earth metal catalysts. Researchers have now developed a quick and inexpensive alternative, making a “nanofoam” catalyst out of nickel and iron that performs better than usual.

​The field of nanotechnology is still in its nascent stages but recent innovations are increasingly making this sci-fi world a reality. New research has demonstrated a robot made of a single strand of DNA explore a molecular surface, pick up targeted molecules, and move them to another location.

​Creating a material that can alter its optical properties in real time has proved challenging for scientists, but a team has finally achieved a major breakthrough by developing a material that can transition from clear to reflective and back again using an array of gold nanoparticles.

​In what they are calling a world first, nanoengineers have delivered tiny drug-bearing motors into the stomachs of mice where the devices moved around via bubble propulsion, which changed the pH of the stomach to allow the successful dispatch of bug-clobbering antibiotics.

Radiation exposure leaves astronauts with an increased risk of cancer and other diseases. Now a team from Australian National University has developed a new nanomaterial that could protect space travelers with a thin film that dynamically reflects harmful radiation.

​A team of MIT engineers has potentially revolutionized the process of dialysis by creating a new membrane from graphene that is able to filter nanometer-sized molecules from solutions up to 10 times faster than current dialysis systems.

With the development of a nano-scale optic fiber detector, UCSD researchers have created a tiny device so sensitive that it can detect the waves produced by swimming bacteria and hear the beating of individual muscle cells of the heart.

To make water repellent coatings that are a self-healing, a team of scientists led by Jürgen Rühe at the University of Freiburg in Germany has come up with a superhydrophobic that sheds its outer skin like a snake to repair itself after being damaged.

Soon, people in smog alerts could breath easy thanks to a new nanofiber solution developed at NUS. Air filters made from the material can block most small particles while still letting air circulate, and at the same time block UV rays without reducing natural light.

Using light and tiny nanoparticles of rhodium​, scientists have found a way to turn carbon dioxide into a building block of many fuels. The newly discovered chemical reaction could use sunlight to reduce growing levels of CO2 and lead to the development of new alternative energy technologies.

To help bring heavy-duty sterilization into battlefield or emergency situations, Ohio State University have created a flexible, lightweight, LED-based, deep-UV foil prototype that can be wrapped around items and energized to kill harmful microorganisms

Icing can bring down aircraft, snap power lines, and cause a surprising amount of structural damage. However, scientists at the University of Houston have come up with a surprising solution – and it involves magnets.