Nanotech
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
DOE Selects Projects To Advance Nanomanufacturing; Catalysts, Coatings and Oher Nanostructured Materials
October 19, 2008
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 20 project proposals for funding following its Nanomanufacturing for Energy Efficiency 2008 Research Call. The projects promise to make revolutionary improvements in a broad range of catalysts, coatings and other nanostructured materials for use in energy production, storage, and consumption applications that will reduce energy and carbon intensity in industrial processes.
An important next step in realizing the promise of nanotechnology is to improve production and manufacturing techniques for nanomaterials and nano-enabled products, many of which are “stuck at the lab scale.” The selected projects will advance the state of nanomanufacturing by improving the reliability of nanomaterials production and scaling-up manufacturing processes that use nanomaterials.
More... | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Germany’s ERP Start Fund to Invest Up To €1M in Namos for Bio-Nanotech Automotive Catalysts
October 13, 2008
Namos GmbH,, a company developing surface solutions based on bio-nanotechnology, will receive up to €1 million (US$1.36 million) from the ERP Start Fund, a joint program of the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the German government-owned development bank, and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The funds, to be provided in the form of an equity investment, will be disbursed in several tranches which are contingent on the achievement of specific milestones in product development.
Namos develops innovative coatings based on aqueous solutions, with a focus on nanostructured surfaces which offer uniquely advantageous characteristics. Rather than producing these with a large number of complex process steps, these are produced using biomolecules which organize themselves in certain ways into the desired structures.
More... | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
New Pillared Graphene Material Offers Enhanced Hydrogen Storage; Close to DOE Target
October 01, 2008
 |
| Volumetric hydrogen uptake for graphene (diamonds), (6,6) carbon nanotubes (squares), pillared material (triangles), and Li-doped pillared (stars) at (a) 77 K and (b) 300 K. Click to enlarge. Credit: ACS |
Researchers at the University of Crete (Greece) have designed a novel 3-D network nanostructure that almost meets the US Department of Energy (DOE) 2010 volumetric goals for hydrogen storage. The new pillared graphene material could theoretically store up to 41 grams of hydrogen per liter under ambient conditions; the DOE’s target is 45 g/L. Their study is scheduled for the 8 October issue of the ACS journal Nano Letters.
Georgios K. Dimitrakakis, Emmanuel Tylianakis, and George E. Froudakis designed a unique structure consisting of parallel graphene sheets—layers of carbon just one atom thick—stabilized by vertical columns of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The nanoporous material has by design tunable pore sizes and surface areas. They also doped the material with lithium to enhance the storage capacity.
More... | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)
LiMn2O4 Nanorods Improve Li-Ion Cathode Performance
 |
| The nanorods, and capacity compared to commercial powders. Click to enlarge. Credit: ACS |
An international team led by Dr. Yi Cui at Stanford University has produced free-standing single-crystalline LiMn2O4 nanorods that, when used as a cathode material in Li-ion batteries, show a high charge storage capacity at high power rates compared with commercially available manganese spinel powders. A paper on their work was published online today in the ACS journal Nano Letters.
Lithium manganese spinel (LiMn2O4) is one of the current main cathode materials used and under development for Li-ion batteries for vehicles. The material is low-cost, environmentally friendly (compared to cobalt oxide cathodes) and abundant. It has high power capability and excellent safety, but relatively low energy—approximately 110 mAh/g, compared to 180 mAh/g in a nickelate system (e.g., LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2). It also faces known cycle life problems because of manganese dissolution, which is exacerbated at higher temperatures.
More... | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
EPA Awards $2M to Study Impacts of Nanoparticles on the Brain; Ceria Nanoparticles in Diesel Fuel Additive as Model
August 21, 2008
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $2 million grant to the University of Kentucky (UK) to investigate how the sizes and shapes of nanoparticles affect their ability to enter the brain. This is the largest EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant ever awarded to the University of Kentucky as well as the largest single grant ever awarded by EPA STAR for nanotechnology research.
The research team, led by Dr. Robert Yokel, will study the potential health impacts of nano-sized cerium oxide (CeO2), a diesel fuel additive. Used presently in Europe (e.g., Oxonica ENVIROX), it is claimed to improve fuel efficiency, suppress soot from exhaust, and reduce the concentration of other ultra-fine particles in the air that have known health effects. The research project will be funded for four years.
More... | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Cornell Researchers Develop New Method for Self-Assembly of Metals Into Ordered, Porous Structures; Potential Benefit for Fuel Cells and Catalysts
June 28, 2008
 |
| Ligand-coated platinum nanoparticles (blue and gray balls) nestled amongst the block co-polymers (blue and green strands). The self-assembly of platinum nanoparticles through the use of ligands and polymers is the key first step to a new method for structuring metals developed by Cornell Researchers. Click to enlarge. Image courtesy of Scott Warren & Uli Wiesner, Cornell University |
Cornell University researchers have developed a method to self-assemble metals into complex configurations with ordered porous mesostructures with large and open pores by guiding metal particles into the desired form using soft polymers.
Applications that can exploit the ability to control the structure of metals at the mesoscale (2 to 50 nm) include making more efficient and less expensive catalysts for fuel cells and industrial processes, and creating plasmonic surface structures capable of carrying more information across microchips than conventional wires do. The researchers report on their work in the 27 June issue of the journal Science.
More... | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Use Electrospinning to Produce POM Mats 10x More Stretchable Than Original Material
June 02, 2008
 |
| FESEM micrograph of the electrospun POM fibers. Click to enlarge. Courtesy of the American Chemical Society |
Researchers at Tsinghua University in China reported the first successful electrospinning of polyoxymethylene (POM)—a type of plastic widely used in automobiles and electronics due to its properties such as good strength, stiffness, abrasion, and chemical resistance.
The process, which uses an electric charge to turn polymers into thin fibers in the presence of electricity, produced plastic mats that show very high elongation about 10 times that of the original bulk tensile bar and could lead to new uses for the plastic, they say. The study is scheduled for publication in the 10 June issue of the ACS journal Macromolecules.
More... | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Research to Explore Polymer Catalytic Membrane Systems for the Capture and Recovery of CO2
May 06, 2008
A materials chemist working in the Organic Materials Innovation Centre (OMIC) at The University of Manchester (UK), has won £150,000 (US$296,000) of new funding to explore the use of a special polymer in a catalytic membrane system to capture and recover CO2 from power plants.
Dr. Peter Budd’s project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), will explore the potential of composite membranes made from a polymer of intrinsic microporosity (PIM), and a synthetic catalyst.
More... | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Study: Adding Aluminum Nanoparticles to Diesel Can Improve Ignition Properties
May 01, 2008
 |
| The addition of Al or Al2O3 nanoparticles increases the probability of ignition. Click to enlarge. |
Adding aluminum and aluminum oxide nanoparticles to diesel can improve the fuel’s ignition properties, according to a new study published online in the journal Nano Letters.
Arizona State University mechanical engineer Patrick E. Phelan and colleagues varied both particle size (15 and 50 nm) as well as the volume fraction (0%, 0.1%, and 0.5%) of aluminum (Al) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles at several temperatures within the range 688 °C up to 768 °C. In a series of hot plate studies, they found that in all cases the ignition probability of the nanoparticles + diesel mixtures was much higher than that of pure diesel.
More... | Comments (24) | TrackBack (0)
Silicon Nanotubes Outperform Carbon Nanotubes for Hydrogen Storage
April 20, 2008
|
| Modeled snapshots and gravimetric adsorption capacities of hydrogen in the silicon nanotube arrays (SiNT), top; and carbon nanotubes (CNT), bottom. T = 298 K and P = 2, 6, and 10 MPa. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT) have determined that silicon nanotubes can store hydrogen more efficiently than carbon nanotubes. Their study is published in the ACS’ Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
The paper is one of the latest in a growing set of research seeking to leverage nanotube structures for hydrogen storage. Although work on the hydrogen storage potential of carbon nanotubes has been underway since 1997, most efforts using those materials have failed to reach the US Department of Energy (DOE) target of 6 wt% for commercial application.
More... | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)
Ford Developing Thermally Sprayed Nano-Coating for Cylinders to Reduce Friction, Support Lighterweight Construction
April 17, 2008
 |
| Honed cylinder coating made from one of the materials (SUNA) under test. Click to enlarge. |
Ford Research Centre Aachen (Germany) is developing a thermally sprayed nano-coating using a Plasma Transferred Wire Arc (PTWA) process that could replace the heavier cast iron liners that provide the necessary wear resistance of cylinder bores in aluminum block engines.
Presented in a paper at the SAE 2008 World Congress by Dr. Clemens Verpoort of the Aachen center, the thin, wear-resistant coating reduces weight and improves friction performance while delivering equal durability and reliability to the product.
More... | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Assess Fullerene Nanocage Capacity for Hydrogen Storage
March 21, 2008
|
| Computed structures of all-carbon cages of fullerenes filled with hydrogen. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at Rice University have modelled fullerene nanocages filled with hydrogen to assess their capacity to store the gas. Among their conclusions are that some buckyballs (a C60 cage) can hold about 8 wt% of hydrogen at room temperature, and that the hydrogen pressure inside the fullerene nanocage could reach values only a few times smaller than the pressure of hydrogen metallization—100 GPa (1 Mbar).
Earlier experiments have shown that it’s possible to store small volumes of hydrogen inside buckyballs. The new research by Boris Yakobson, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Rice, and former postdoctoral researchers Olga Pupysheva and Amir Farajian, offers the first method of precisely calculating how much hydrogen a buckyball can hold before breaking. The research is featured on the cover of the March 2008 edition of the journal Nano Letters.
More... | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Achieve Major Increase in Thermoelectric Efficiency of Bismuth Antimony Telluride
March 20, 2008
 |
| A cross-section of nano-crystalline bismuth antimony telluride grains, as viewed through a transmission electron microscope. Colors highlight the features of each grain of the semiconductor alloy in bulk form. Click to enlarge. Image: Boston College, MIT, and GMZ Inc. |
Researchers at Boston College and MIT have achieved a major increase in the thermoelectric efficiency of bismuth antimony telluride—a semiconductor alloy that has been commonly used in commercial devices since the 1950s—in bulk form. Specifically, the team realized a 40% increase in the alloy’s figure of merit—a dimensionless term calculated to indicate a material’s relative performance—from 1 to a peak of 1.4.
The team’s low-cost approach, details of which are published in the online version of the journal Science, involves building tiny alloy nanostructures. The discovery sets the stage for broader use of this new nanocomposite approach in developing high-performance, low-cost bulk thermoelectric materials.
More... | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
New Catalyst More Efficiently Removes CO from Hydrogen; Benefit for Fuel Cells
 |
| The new catalyst is a core of ruthenium surrounded by one to two layers of platinum atoms. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Maryland (UM) have designed from first principles a new type of chemical catalyst that efficiently oxidizes carbon monoxide (CO). CO is a contaminant in hydrogen produced via the reformation of hydrocarbons that poison the expensive platinum catalyst that runs the fuel cell reaction, thereby reducing the efficiency of fuel cells.
Writing in this week’s Advance Online Publication of Nature Materials, UW-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor Manos Mavrikakis and UM chemistry and biochemistry Professor Bryan Eichhorn describe a new type of catalyst created by surrounding a nanoparticle of ruthenium (Ru) with one to two layers of platinum (Pt) atoms. The result is a robust room-temperature catalyst that improves the preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO in the presence of hydrogen.
More... | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
ZIFs: New Framework Materials for the Capture and Storage of CO2
February 15, 2008
 |
| A ZIF structure. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers led by Omar Yaghi at UCLA have developed a new class of materials—zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs)—that exhibit “unusual” selectivity for capturing carbon dioxide from gas mixtures and “extraordinary” capacity for storing CO2. The work is reported in the 15 February issue of the journal Science.
The researchers synthesized 25 ZIF crystal structures and found that three of them (ZIF-68, ZIF-69, ZIF-70) exhibited selectivity for capturing carbon dioxide from gas mixtures. One liter of ZIF-69 can hold approximately 83 liters of CO2 at 273 kelvin (-0.15°C) under ambient pressure.
More... | Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Develop New Hybrid Membrane With High Hydrothermal Stability; Potential Energy-Efficient Replacement for Distillation Techniques in Biofuel Production
February 07, 2008
 |
| The cylinder is the carrier of a hybrid membrane: a layer of about 100 nanometer thickness. The insert is a close-up of the layer showing the organic links and pores. From the left of the tube, only water molecules leave the sieve. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the University of Twente in The Netherlands have developed a new hybrid organic–inorganic nanosieve membrane with high hydrothermal stability that enables energy-efficient molecular separations, including dehydration up to at least 150° C, even after long periods of continuous exposure to water.
The hybrid membranes are suitable for dehydrating solvents and biofuels, an application for which there is a large potential market worldwide. The main advantage of membrane technology is that it consumes far less energy than common distillation techniques. The scientists also foresee opportunities in separating hydrogen gas from gas mixtures and also in water desalinization applications.
More... | Comments (20) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Develop “Molecular Nanovalves” for Gas Storage in Metal Organic Frameworks; Potential for H2 Storage
February 02, 2008
Researchers at the University of Calgary (Canada) have developed a new process for capturing and storing gas in metal organic frameworks based on the use of “molecular nanovalves”. The new method of gas storage could yield benefits for capturing, storing and transporting gases more safely and efficiently.
Using the orderly crystal structure of a barium organotrisulfonate, the researchers developed a unique open-channel material that shifts structure to form closed pores in the solid when dehydrated. This occurs through multiple single-crystal to single-crystal transformations. The gas composing the atmosphere during dehydration becomes trapped in the resulting air-tight chambers. On rehydration, the pores open to release the trapped gas.
More... | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Demonstrate 7 wt% Hydrogen Storage Capacity in Carbon Nanotubes
January 28, 2008
 |
| AFM images of the same tubes before and after hydrogenation. (a) Before hydrogenation, a SWNT with the diameter of ~1.8 nm; (b) diameter of the tube in panel a increased to ~2.1 nm after hydrogenation; (c) before hydrogenation, a SWNT with diameter of ~1.0 nm; (d) the tube in panel c is cut after hydrogenation (marked with arrow) and diameter of the tube increased to ~1.3 nm. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and FYSIKUM at Stockholm University have demonstrated that specific carbon nanotubes can have a hydrogen storage capacity of more than 7 wt% through the formation of reversible C-H bonds—i.e., through chemisorption, rather than physisorption.
The team found that the maximal degree of nanotube hydrogenation depends on the nanotube diameter, and for the diameter values around 2.0 nm, nanotube-hydrogen complexes with close to 100% hydrogenation exist and are stable at room temperature. They reported on their work in a paper in the journal Nano Letters.
More... | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)
New MOF Methane Storage Material Exceeds DOE Goals for Adsorbed Natural Gas Storage by 28%
January 21, 2008
 |
| A nano-sized crystalline cage that shows promise as a superior storage material for methane. Click to enlarge. Courtesy of Shengqian Ma, Miami University. |
Researchers have developed a new metal-organic framework (MOF) material with what they believe to be the highest methane storage capacity yet measured. Methane adsorption studies of the new material—PCN-14—at 290 K (16.9°C or 62°F) and 35 bar show an absolute methane-adsorption capacity of 230 v/v (standard temperature and pressure equivalent volume of methane per volume of the adsorbent material), 28% higher than the US Department of Energy (DOE) target (180 v/v) for on-board methane storage.
The PCN-14 compound, composed of clusters of nano-sized cages, has a high surface area of 2,176 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.87 cm3/g. Hong-Cai Zhou and colleagues describe the development of PCN-14 in an report in the 23 January edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
More... | Comments (31) | TrackBack (0)
Solar Hydrogen Company Secures $4.7M in Series A Round
January 16, 2008
 |
| Second-generation prototype Solar Hydrogen Generator with solar concentrator. |
Nanoptek Corporation, a renewable energy company that produces hydrogen directly from water using sunlight and its proprietary photocatalyst, has closed a $4.7 million Series A equity financing round led by The Quercus Trust, a California fund with multiple investments in clean technology and renewable energy.
Ardour Capital Investments, LLC served as financial advisor in the transaction. Series A investors also included the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and private investors. With this investment, Nanoptek expects to complete the development of its field-deployable Solar Hydrogen Generator, develop pilot manufacturing capability, and install its first pilot plant for producing carbon-free hydrogen.
More... | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)
Two Research Groups Demonstrate High-Performance Thermoelectric Capability in Silicon Nanowires
January 11, 2008
 |
| False-color image of Caltech silicon nanowire thermoelectric device. The central green area is the Si nanowire array, which is not resolved at this larger magnification. The four-lead yellow electrodes are used for thermometry. The thermal gradient is established with either of the two Joule heaters (the right-hand heater is colored red). Click to enlarge. |
Thermoelectric materials—materials that can convert heat into electricity—are theoretically promising for applications such as waste heat recovery from combustion engines. (Earlier post.)
Now, two research groups working independently at Caltech and UC Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) have shown that the thermoelectric properties of silicon—a material that can be processed on a large scale but has poor thermoelectric properties—can be vastly improved by structuring it into arrays of nanowires and carefully controlling nanowire morphology and doping. Reports on both sets of research are in the 10 January issue of the journal Nature.
More... | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)
New Nanostructured Thin Film Shows Promise for Efficient Solar Energy Conversion; Potential Application in Hydrogen Production and CO2 Conversion to Hydrocarbon Fuels
January 09, 2008
A team of researchers from California, Mexico and China have combined two nanotech methods for engineering solar cell materials to create a material that performs better than expected.
Two methods for engineering solar cell materials that have shown particular promise are the use of thin films of metal oxide nanoparticles, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), doped with other elements, such as nitrogen; and the use of quantum dots that strongly absorb visible light. These tiny semiconductors inject electrons into a metal oxide film, or sensitize it, to increase solar energy conversion. Both doping and quantum dot sensitization extend the visible light absorption of the metal oxide materials.
More... | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Offer New Model of Structure and Function of Nafion Membranes in Fuel Cells
December 12, 2007
 |
| The structure of Nafion, according to the new study. Click to enlarge. |
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory have developed a new model to explain the structure and function of Nafion proton exchange membranes (PEM) in fuel cells. Understanding Nafion’s structure may enable other scientists to build similar fuel-cell membrane materials that are less expensive or have different properties, such as higher operating temperatures.
The model proposed by Ames Laboratory scientists Klaus Schmidt-Rohr and Qiang Chen, and detailed in the 9 December issue of the journal Nature Materials, looked specifically at Nafion, a widely used perfluorinated polymer film that stands out for its high selective permeability to water and protons. Schmidt-Rohr, who is also a professor of chemistry at Iowa State University, suggests that Nafion has a closely packed network of nanoscale cylindrical water channels running in parallel through the material.
More... | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Researchers Establish First Electrical Connection Between Hydrogenase Enzymes and Nanotubes; Potential Biohybrid Catalyst for Hydrogen Production and Use
November 19, 2007
 |
| Molecular model of CaHydI hydrogenase enzyme bound to a SWNT, one of several plausible arrangements. The yellow and green units show the FeS clusters. There are many possible geometries, but the existence of a strong electronic interaction demonstrates that at least one of the FeS clusters must be proximal to the tubes. Click to enlarge. Courtesy of Michael J. Heben, NREL |
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado are reporting the first successful electrical connection between hydrogenase enzymes and carbon nanotubes.
Their work, which shows that surfactant-suspended carbon single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) spontaneously self-assemble with [FeFe] hydrogenases in solution to form catalytically active biohybrids, is scheduled for publication in the November issue of the ACS journal Nano Letters.
