Nanotechnology News 051810
Implantable device for measuring the heart’s electrical output
“Implantable silicon-based devices have the potential to serve as tools for mapping and treating epileptic seizures, providing more precise control over deep brain stimulation, as well as other neurological applications,” says Story Landis, PhD, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, which provided support for the study. The team tested the new devices – made of nanoscale, flexible ribbons of silicon embedded with 288 electrodes, forming a lattice-like array of hundreds of connections – on the heart of a porcine animal model. The tissue-hugging shape allows for measuring electrical activity with greater resolution in time and space. The new device can also operate when immersed in the body’s salty fluids. The devices can collect large amounts of data from the body, at high speed. This allowed the researchers to map electrical activity on the heart of the large animal… read more
Piezoelectric nanogenerators to harvest energy from motion
Based on arrays containing as many as 20,000 zinc oxide nanowires in each nanogenerator, the devices can produce up to 1.2 volts of output voltage, and are fabricated with a chemical process designed to facilitate low-cost manufacture on flexible substrates. Tests done with nearly one thousand nanogenerators – which have no mechanical moving parts – showed that they can be operated over time without loss of generating capacity… read more
Functional nanomaterials for medical devices
“Atomic layer deposition is a technique that can be used to create thin films for coating metals or ceramics, and is especially useful for coating complex nanoscale structures,” says Dr. Roger Narayan, the paper’s lead author. “This paper shows how atomic layer deposition can be used to create biologically functional materials, such as materials that have antibacterial properties”… read more
Berkeley Scientists Report Universal Method for Creating Nanoscale Composites
Researchers at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, in collaboration with researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, have shown how nanocomposites with desired properties can be designed and fabricated by first assembling nanocrystals and nanorods coated with short organic molecules, called ligands. These ligands are then replaced with clusters of metal chalcogenides, such as copper sulfide. As a result, the clusters link to the nanocrystal or nanorod building blocks and help create a stable nanocomposite… read more
