Shaping light lets 2D microscopes capture 4D data

Invention adds new dimension to fluorescent microscopy

20-Feb-2019 - Rice University researchers have added a new dimension to their breakthrough technique that expands the capabilities of standard laboratory microscopes. Two years ago, the Rice lab of chemist Christy Landes introduced super temporal resolution microscopy, a technique that allowed researchers to ...

Carrying and releasing nanoscale cargo with 'nanowrappers'

Nanocubes for biomedicine, catalysis and beyond

08-Jan-2019 - This holiday season, scientists at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)--a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory--have wrapped a box of a different kind. Using a one-step chemical synthesis method, they engineered hollow metallic ...

Microscope creates near-real-time videos of nanoscale processes

16-Dec-2015 - State-of-the-art atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are designed to capture images of structures as small as a fraction of a nanometer. In recent years, AFMs have produced desktop-worthy close-ups of atom-sized structures, from single strands of DNA to individual hydrogen bonds between ...

New microscope sees what others can't

12-May-2014 - Microscopes don't exactly lie, but their limitations affect the truths they can tell. For example, scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) simply can't see materials that don't conduct electricity very well, and their high energies can actually damage some types of samples. In an effort to extract a ...

Low-resistance connections facilitate multi-walled carbon nanotubes for interconnects

02-Nov-2012 - Using a new method for precisely controlling the deposition of carbon, researchers have demonstrated a technique for connecting multi-walled carbon nanotubes to the metallic pads of integrated circuits without the high interface resistance produced by traditional fabrication techniques.Based on ...

Benefits of single atoms acting as catalysts in hydrogen-related reactions

13-Mar-2012 - A team of researchers at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering have discovered that individual atoms can catalyze industrially important chemical reactions such as the hydrogenation of acetylene, offering potentially significant economic and environmental ...

Tiny wires change behavior at nanoscale

Rice University researchers surprised to see twin-induced brittle-like fractures in gold nanowires

02-Sep-2011 - Thin gold wires often used in high-end electronic applications are wonderfully flexible as well as conductive. But those qualities don't necessarily apply to the same wires at the nanoscale. A new study from Rice University finds gold wires less than 20 nanometers wide can become "brittle-like" ...

ORNL scientists help explain graphene mystery

25-Aug-2010 - Nanoscale simulations and theoretical research performed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are bringing scientists closer to realizing graphene's potential in electronic applications. A research team led by ORNL's Bobby Sumpter, Vincent Meunier and Eduardo Cruz-Silva ...

Wax, soap clean up obstacles to better batteries

Paraffin and surfactant oleic acid improve synthesis of lithium manganese phosphate electrodes

17-Aug-2010 - A little wax and soap can help build electrodes for cheaper lithium ion batteries, according to a study in August 11 issue of Nano Letters. The one-step method will allow battery developers to explore lower-priced alternatives to the lithium ion-metal oxide batteries currently on the ...

'Broken symmetry' discovery in high-temperature superconductors opens new research path

20-Jul-2010 - In a major step toward understanding the mysterious "pseudogap" state in high-temperature cuprate superconductors, a team of Cornell, Binghamton University and Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists have found a "broken symmetry," where electrons act like molecules in a liquid crystal: ...