Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Nanoscale Issue 8 of 2012 out now!

13 Apr 2012

The latest issue of Nanoscale is now online. You can read the full issue here:

OFC_08

The outside front cover features an article on Dense and vertically-aligned centimetre-long ZnS nanowire arrays: ionic liquid assisted synthesis and their field emission properties by Shimou Chen, Liang Li, Xi Wang, Wei Tian, Xuebing Wang, Dai-Ming Tang, Yoshio Bando and Dmitri Golberg.

Microfluidic fabrication of cationic curcumin nanoparticles as an anti-cancer agent is the Communication highlighted on the inside front cover by Praseetha Prabhakaran, Luis Filgueira, K. Swaminathan Iyer and Colin L. Raston.

Issue 8 contains the following Feature articles:

Nanostructured metal oxide-based materials as advanced anodes for lithium-ion batteries
Hao Bin Wu, Jun Song Chen, Huey Hoon Hng and Xiong Wen (David) Lou
Quasi-dynamic mode of nanomembranes for time-of-flight mass spectrometry of proteins
Jonghoo Park, Hyunseok Kim and Robert H. BlickGalo J. A. A. Soler-Illia, Paula C. Angelomé, M. Cecilia Fuertes, David Grosso and Cedric Boissiere
Critical aspects in the production of periodically ordered mesoporous titania thin films
Galo J. A. A. Soler-Illia, Paula C. Angelomé, M. Cecilia Fuertes, David Grosso and Cedric Boissiere

Fancy submitting an article to Nanoscale? Then why not submit to us today!

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Nanoscale Issue 7 of 2012 out now

10 Apr 2012

By Aliya Anwar.

The latest issue of Nanoscale is now online. You can read the full issue here:

The outside front cover features a Communication article on Single-layer graphene sound-emitting devices: experiments and modeling by He Tian, Dan Xie, Yi Yang, Tian-Ling Ren, Yu-Feng Wang, Chang-Jian Zhou, Ping-Gang Peng, Li-Gang Wang and Li-Tian Liu.

Infrared colloidal lead chalcogenide nanocrystals: Synthesis, properties, and photovoltaic applications is the Review article highlighted on the inside front cover by Huiying Fu and Sai-Wing Tsang.

Fancy submitting an article to Nanoscale? Then why not submit to us today!

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Nanorod-based electrodes for DSSCs and self-powered UV detectors

10 Apr 2012

By Jane Hordern, Deputy Editor.

Scientists in China have made high performance dye sensitised solar cells and self-powered UV detectors by introducing novel multilayer nanostructured electrodes.

The electrodes were made of multilayered TiO₂ nanorod-assembled cloths and TiO2 nanorod arrays grown on a conducting substrate. The combination of both types of TiO₂ led to fast electron transport and good light capturing properties.

“We believe that the nanostructures may lead to a great revolution in the optoelectronic field in the future,” say the researchers.

Read the ‘HOT’ article:

Multilayer TiO₂ Nanorod Cloth/Nanorod Arrays Electrode for Dye- Sensitized Solar Cells and Self-Powered UV Detectors
Guozhen Shen et al.
Nanoscale, 2012, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30440F

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Speeding up wound healing

05 Apr 2012

By Aliya Anwar.

Scientists in China have developed a material that reduces the time required for a skin wound to heal.

A range of research has been conducted into the promising biomedical applications of chitosan, as it can clot blood effectively. Bingan Lu and his colleagues at Lanzhou University have developed a method to combine the benefits of chitosan with graphene, which has been shown to have antibacterial properties.

Lu’s team mixed graphene with chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibres using electrospinning (a process in which an electrical charge is applied to draw very fine fibres from the solution). The chitosan nanofibres combined with the graphene, forming thin membranes.

The team applied the membranes to small skin wounds. Lu says that the membranes ‘covered the wounds like a band aid and, usually, one wound only needed one graphene-chitosan-PVA membrane’. They found that after 10 days, the wounds were significantly more healed than those without the membrane.

A membrane formed from chitosan, which clots blood effectively, and graphene, which is antibacterial, speeds up wound healing

Chunhai Fan, an expert in graphene materials at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says that the work ‘shows a really interesting health application of graphene-based nanomaterials’ and adds that it ‘clearly shows that graphene-based antibacterial materials facilitate wound healing’.

To test the membrane further, Lu’s team used cell cultures to show that graphene is only detrimental to bacterial cells, and animal cells are unaffected. They suggest that this may be due to graphene transferring electrons through cell membranes. Bacterial cells are prevented from replicating by this process, as the electrons can reach the bacterial DNA, destroying it. Animal DNA is protected from the electrons by a second membrane. The team intends to investigate graphene’s antibacterial properties to confirm the mechanism.

Graphene-based composite materials beneficial to wound healing
Bingan Lu, Ting Li, Haitao Zhao, Xiaodong Li, Caitian Gao, Shengxiang Zhang and Erqing Xie
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR11958G

Read the original article at Chemistry World

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Call for papers: Nanoscale themed issue: Self-propelled nano- and microsystems

05 Apr 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Nanoscale themed issue: Self-propelled Nano- and Microsystems

Guest Editors: Martin Pumera (Nanyang Technological University), Samuel Sanchez (IFW Dresden)

Deadline for Submission: 1st September 2012

Nanoscale is delighted to announce a high-profile themed issue on “Self-propelled Nano- and Microsystems”. It is our pleasure to invite you to submit to this themed issue.

Taking a lead from Nature, artificial nanorobots have been designed which are capable of moving autonomously by the conversion of physical or chemical sources into mechanical energy. These tiny devices can be functionalized with different biomolecules in order to carry out the specific tasks, such as capture and transport of cargo. This themed issue will include high quality articles across this exciting, fast-moving field – from synthesis and mechanisms of motion/transport of cargoes, to applications.

Submit in any reasonable format using our online submissions service

Communications and full papers of high quality original, unpublished research will be considered

All submissions are subject to rigorous peer review

Please indicate upon submission it is intended for this themed issue

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Simple synthesis of multilayered TiO2 nanotube arrays

30 Mar 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Dongsheng Guan and Ying Wang of Louisiana State University report a novel way to prepare multilayered TiO₂ nanotube arrays. In this study, TiO₂ nanotubes grow at a steady ready under stable pH and ion-diffusion conditions but, when the voltage is first reduced and then subsequently increased again, a second layer of nanotubes can be grown on top of the first.

The work casts light on the mechanism of TiO₂ nanotube growth and could see applications from batteries to solar cells.

Read this HOT Nanoscale article today:

Synthesis and growth mechanism of multilayer TiO₂ nanotube arrays
Dongsheng Guan and Ying Wang
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30315A

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Visible light powered disinfectant coatings to fight viruses

30 Mar 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Self-disinfecting surfaces that reduce the activity of influenza A, hepatitis C and E. coli have been developed by scientists from the US.

The team from UCLA used zinc-copper-indium nanocrystals to make surfaces that allow oxygen species and other free radicals to form under visible light illumination. These active species reduce influenza A activity up to 94% and hepatitis C up to 85%.

Read this HOT communication today:

Visible light powered self-disinfecting coatings for influenza viruses
Ding Weng , Hangfei Qi , Ting-Ting Wu , Ming Yan , Ren Sun and Yunfeng Lu
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30388D

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A nanoscale ear drum

27 Mar 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Scientists in Germany, the US and Finland have used graphene membranes as highly sensitive sensor devices for molecules on the nanoscale.

The molecules are adsorbed onto the graphene’s surface and then molecular dynamics are used to measure mass and other physical properties. The team showed that they can detect specific “fingerprints” left by the molecules on the graphene surface, which can be identified by IR or Raman spectroscopy. As the molecule moves on the surface, these dynamical movements can be detected by a graphene-based drum (a nanoscale “ear” that can hear “sounds” produced by other molecules).

The device could be used for nanoelectronics or to improve atomic force microscopy-based techniques.

Read the full details of this exciting work today:

Nanoscale ear drum: Graphene based nanoscale sensors
Stanislav Avdoshenko , Claudia Gomes Rochaa and Gionarelio Cuniberti
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR30097D

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Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9) – Oral abstract deadline approaching

22 Mar 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9)

The oral abstract submission deadline for Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9) is fast approaching. Submit by Friday 30^th March to present your work alongside sixteen outstanding plenary speakers.

For further details on Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9) or any of the conferences in the ISACS series, please sign up for our exclusive newsletter, follow us on twitter or visit the dedicated webpage.

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Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Top 10 most-read Nanoscale articles in February

Nanoscale Issue 8 of 2012 out now!

Nanoscale Issue 7 of 2012 out now

Nanorod-based electrodes for DSSCs and self-powered UV detectors

Speeding up wound healing

Call for papers: Nanoscale themed issue: Self-propelled nano- and microsystems

Simple synthesis of multilayered TiO2 nanotube arrays

Visible light powered disinfectant coatings to fight viruses

A nanoscale ear drum

Challenges in Nanoscience (ISACS9) – Oral abstract deadline approaching

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