NANObits: May 2008

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Major Advance in Manufacture of El-Mul’s Nanotube-Based Field Emitter

WEBWIRE – Thursday, May 29, 2008

Contact Information: Bob Rosenbaum; Marketing Director; El-Mul Technologies Ltd; +972 8-943-4184; bob.rosenbaum@el-mul.com

Achievement details to be presented at 2008 Conference
of the Nanoscience and Technology Institute in Boston.

YAVNE, ISRAEL (29 May 2008) – El-Mul Technologies announced today that it has gained critical knowledge that will allow commercial manufacture of its proprietary carbon nanotube (CNT) based field emission device. This achievement enables development of the device for a variety of industrial applications, including production of E-beam sources to be used primarily in analytical instruments and semiconductor tools.

Details of the achievement will be presented on June 3 at the 2008 Conference of the Nanoscience and Technology Institute (NSTI) to be held in Boston, by Mr. Sagi Daren, El-Mul’s Nano Electron Source (NES) project manager.

“Today we are offering a working industrial process to manufacture complex CNT-based electron sources with outstanding performance for real life applications,” Dr. Armin Schon, CEO of El-Mul Technologies, announced. “We can now custom design and produce sources for various applications and we will expand our offerings in the near future, both in our home markets and elsewhere.”

The company is focusing on design and manufacture of E-beam sources in two areas: well-characterized fine beam applications based on single CNT emitters, and high-current broad beam applications based on multi-beam CNT emitter arrays. Marketed as the E-Beam On-a-Chip™ platform, El-Mul’s first product is currently undergoing testing with a European partner.

Schon noted that early stages of El-Mul’s CNT electron source project were greeted with skepticism. “I heard many critical comments about the technological difficulties of such an endeavor. Today we can show that we have overcome the biggest challenge of all – high yield manufacturing.” Schon also praised the project team members. “We’ve been successful because we’ve harnessed the best properties of Israel’s high tech culture: highly qualified and motivated team members with very high tolerance for risk and disappointment, working alongside management that has the long-term vision to guide a very challenging process through to its resolution.”

El-Mul’s initial electron source device is targeted primarily for next generation scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) systems. The new device is expected to result in 30 percent higher resolution, a four-fold increase in scanning speeds, and a significant cost reduction in both manufacturing and maintenance of SEM and TEM systems.

El-Mul’s patented approach creates a MEMS-based electron source that results in superior beam brightness, narrower energy spread and smaller source size than conventional electron emitter devices. To manufacture the new device, El Mul has also developed a proprietary chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process that grows single CNT emitters inside cathode wells 4 microns deep.

Among potential application markets for the E-Beam On-a-Chip™ platform are: sub 40 nm E beam lithography, metrology and inspection tools (for semiconductor manufacturing); X ray and mass spectrometry tools (for medical and life sciences); and field emission displays.

CNT-based electron source device R&D has been funded through strategic partnerships and by the Office of the Chief Scientist in Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Trade. El Mul holds US and international patents for its R&D in this area.

El-Mul Technologies has over 16 years experience in the design and manufacture of electron and ion detectors for a wide variety of industries and research environments, and is recognized today as a leading solutions provider for nanotechnology toolmakers. El-Mul has pioneered nanoscale devices since 1999.

Related Links: News Source; El-Mul Technologies Site

: SEM tools; industrial electronics; carbon nanotubes; field emitters; nanotechnology

Source

29 May 2008

E-Beam On-a-Chip™ Device Achievements Announced

El-Mul to present major advances in the manufacture of it's patented carbon nanotube-based electron beam source platform at the NSTI 2008 conference in Boston.

Download Press Release (PDF, 152 KB)

Request more information

Source

El-Mul US patent reference:

United States Patent	6,512,235
Eitan , et al.	January 28, 2003

Nanotube-based electron emission device and systems using the same

Abstract

A device that produces an electron beam with high optical quality for processing a sample, is presented. The optical quality is manifested by very high brightness and low energy spread. The device includes an electron source device comprising an electrode in the form of a shaped first layer, preferably in the form of a conducting crater carrying at least one nanotube, and an extracting electrode, which is formed with at least one aperture and is insulated from the firs layer. The source can be used in any column that requires such properties. The column according to the invention may be a full size or a miniature electron microscope, a lithography tool, a tool used for direct writing of wafers or a field emission display.

Inventors:	Eitan; Guy (Menorah, IL), Zik; Ory (Tel Aviv, IL), Rosenblatt; David (Philadelphia, PA)
Assignee:	El-Mul Technologies Ltd. (Yavne, IL)
Appl. No.:	09/561,958
Filed:	May 1, 2000

Extract:
Since the electron source device that is based on fiber(s), e.g., nanotube(s), in a conducting crater emits with sufficient brightness to be used in electron microscopy, it is evident that a matrix of craters is suitable for a field emission display, where each beamlet correspond to a pixel. Thus, the current invention is also suitable for flat panel displays.

The advantages of the present invention are thus self-evident The electron source device according to the invention enables to solve various constructional and operational problems of electron source device based systems, such as electron microscopes, lithography tools and flat displays. Due to the small size of the nanotube-based electron source device and relaxed vacuum requirements, the entire system can have a desirably small footprint, and can allow for assembling a multiple-column arrangement to be advantageously used in various applications. Due to the elevated optical performance of the electron gun and reduced chromatic and spherical aberrations of the associated electron beam, the performance of the system is significantly improved. In fact, the invention allows to the useful utilization of nanotubes in an electron gun. The use of "patterned" cathode-electrode, and preferably by means of the same anode-electrode, the construction and operation of a lithography tool utilizing such an electron source device is significantly improved.

Source

WO/2001/084130 (PCT equivalent)

Nanoparticles assemble by millions to encase oil drops

05/29/2008

CONTACT: Jade Boyd
PHONE: 713-348-6778
E-MAIL: jadeboyd@rice.edu

Designer 'nanobatons' could be used to trap oil, deliver drugs

In a development that could lead to new technologies for cleaning up oil spills and polluted groundwater, scientists at Rice University have shown how tiny, stick-shaped particles of metal and carbon can trap oil droplets in water by spontaneously assembling into bag-like sacs.

The tiny particles were found to assemble spontaneously by the tens of millions into spherical sacs as large as BB pellets around droplets of oil in water. In addition, the scientists found that ultraviolet light and magnetic fields could be used to flip the nanoparticles, causing the bags to instantly turn inside out and release their cargo -- a feature that could ultimately be handy for delivering drugs.

"The core of the nanotechnology revolution lies in designing inorganic nanoparticles that can self-assemble into larger structures like a 'smart dust' that performs different functions in the world – for example, cleaning up pollution," said lead research Pulickel Ajayan, Rice's Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. "Our approach brings the concept of self-assembling, functional nanomaterials one step closer to reality."

The research was published online today by the American Chemical Society's journal Nano Letters.

***********************************************

ASAP Nano Lett., ASAP Article, 10.1021/nl080407i
Web Release Date: May 29, 2008

Controlled Manipulation of Giant Hybrid Inorganic Nanowire Assemblies

Fung Suong Ou,^†^‡ Manikoth M. Shaijumon,^‡^§ and Pulickel M. Ajayan^*^‡^§

Department of Applied Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180

Received February 11, 2008

Revised April 28, 2008

Abstract:

The ultimate goal of nanotechnology is the design and fabrication of nanosize building blocks with multiple functionalities and their assembly into large-scale functional structures that can be controllably manipulated. Here we show that hybrid inorganic multisegmented nanowires, with hydrophobic carbon nanotube tails and hydrophilic metal nanowire heads, allow the assembly and manipulation of massive ordered structures in solution, reminiscent of the organic molecular micellar assembly. Further, properly designed assemblies can be manipulated using external stimuli such as magnetic field and light. The hybrid nanowires can have multiple segments including magnetic components, allowing the assembly to be manipulated by external magnetic field. The assembled structures can also be manipulated by modifying the hydrophobicity of the respective components via chemical functionalization and optical irradiation. This approach brings the concept of environment sensitive self-assembling nanomaterials closer to reality.

Download the full text: PDF | HTML

Source

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The multisegmented nanowires, akin to "nanoscale batons," were made by connecting two nanomaterials with different properties, much like an eraser is attached to the end of a wooden pencil. In the study, the researchers started with carbon nanotubes -- hollow tubes of pure carbon. Atop the nanotubes, they added short segments of gold. Ajayan said that by adding various other segments -- like sections of nickel or other materials -- the researchers can create truly multifunctional nanostructures.

The tendency of these nanobatons to assemble in water-oil mixtures derives from basic chemistry. The gold end of the wire is water-loving, or hydrophilic, while the carbon end is water-averse, or hydrophobic. The thin, water-tight sacs that surround all living cells are formed by interlocking arrangements of hydrophilic and hydrophobic chemicals, and the sac-like structures created in the study are very similar.

Ajayan, graduate student Fung Suong Ou and postdoctoral researcher Shaijumon Manikoth demonstrated that oil droplets suspended in water became encapsulated because of the structures' tendency to align their carbon ends facing the oil. By reversing the conditions -- suspending water droplets in oil – the team was able to coax the gold ends to face inward and encase the water.

"For oil droplets suspended in water, the spheres give off a light yellow color because of the exposed gold ends," Ou said. "With water droplets, we observe a dark sphere due to the protruding black nanotubes."

The team is next preparing to test whether chemical modifications to the "nanobatons" could result in spheres that can both capture and break down oily chemicals. For example, they hope to attach catalysts to the water-hating ends of the nanowires that will cause compounds like trichloroethene, or TCE, to break into nontoxic constituents. Another option would be to attach drugs whose release can be controlled with an external stimulus.

"The idea is to go beyond just capturing the compound and initiate a process that will make it less toxic," Ajayan said. "We want to build upon the method of self assembly and start adding functionality so these particles can carry out tasks in the real world."

The research was supported by Rice University, Applied Materials Inc. and the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation.

Source

Quantum Solar Power Corp., Inc.

I am talking my head off here and elsewhere trying to get NNPP or anybody else to get interested in this rectenna development by NNPP's grandpa, a guy named Howard K. Schmidt.

Look here for the rectenna stuff so far:
http://donpatent.blogspot.com/2008/05/inventor-schmidt-howard-k.html

I think rectenna empowered solar could bury oil but what company will develop it is unknown - that's why I would like to see NNPP participate and use either Ren (Boston College) or Schmidt's developments or both to cover all the bases.

Re QVQV:
From : http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=11817017

QV, Quantum Ventures Enters into Agreement with Canadian Integrated Optics International to Manufacture & Market CIOI's Patent Pending Solar Technology
04/16/2008

QV Quantum Ventures Inc. announced that the company has entered into a License agreement with Canadian Integrated Optics International Ltd. of Douglas, Isle of Man (CIOI), to manufacture and market CIOI's patent pending solar technology based on an optical rectenna. Closing of this agreement will occur on or about May 16, 2008 and is subject to certain terms and conditions. The Purchase Price for the license shall be paid in shares of the Company's common stock and a royalty.

I got this out of the 8K: http://sec.edgar-online.com/2008/04/16/0001096350-08-000061/Section6.asp

"Patent Rights" means issued patents and pending patent applications in any country in respect of an invention owned by the Licensor relating to the Technology, including provisionals, continuations-in-part, continuations, divisionals, re-issues and extensions of those issued patents and pending patent applications, including inventions described in the specifications of United States Patent Application Numbers 60/911,847, 60/911,815, 60/911,823 and 60/911,837 filed on April 13, 2007.

I searched and found nothing - they are not yet published. '60' signifies an early incomplete informal filing to get an early filing date - they have a year to get a proper application filed and to maintain that early filing date.

Rectenna. Remember it - it will change the world.

Goodbye oil and coal, hello rectenna solar.

What is a rectenna? It is an antenna which receives electromagnetic waves from the sun, for example, and converts them into rectified direct electric current.

Quantm Ventures - shortly (June 16, 2008) to be renamed - Quantum Solar Power Corp., Inc.
http://knobias.10kwizard.com/filing.php?param=&ipage=5683950&DSEQ=1&SEQ=&SQDESC=SECTION_BODY&exp=

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Imation ships compact Nano Flash Drives

Wednesday, May 28th

Veteran storage manufacturers Imation today announced details of their new line of portable USB flash drives, the Nano Flashes. The drives are available in storage capacities of 1, 2, 4 and 8GB; the design is an evolution of previous USB drives offered by the company, but is only 1.7 inches long, 0.6 inches wide, and 0.4 inches deep. It also focuses on an integrated 360-degree swivel cap, which protects the connector when the drive is not in use, and allows for attachment to keychains, lanyards and even mobile phones.

The Nano is compatible on a basic level with Linux and Mac OS 9 or later, but full compatibility is reserved for Windows 98, 2000, XP and Vista, which support password protection and drive partitioning. Vista additionally supports ReadyBoost funcationality.

Nano Flashes are shipping immediately in the US, at prices ranging between $15 and $90. No information as to when or if the drives will be available worldwide has been released by Imation at the time of writing.

*********************************
Some patent background:
Ref:
WO 2004 075171
DATA RECORDING USING CARBON NANOTUBE ELECTRON SOURCES
OAKLEY, William, S. [LOTS Technology or Imation Corp.]
http://tinyurl.com/62oxg8

The written opinion of the ISA
(See p3 - no invention in view of USP 6,312,303, Yaniv, et al.)

Makes me wonder does all this.

You?

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

HEWLETT-PACKARD CNT Memory Data Storage

Data storage device including nanotube electron sources
HEWLETT-PACKARD
Priority date July 6, 2001

United States Patent Application 20030007443
Kind Code A1
Nickel, Janice H. January 9, 2003

Matured to USP 6,928,042
What is claimed is:
1. A data storage device comprising an array of nanotubes as electron sources; and a phase-change storage layer proximate tips of the electron sources.

And USP 7,295,503

What is claimed is:

1. A data storage device comprising an array of nanotubes as electron sources.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the nanotubes are carbon-based.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the nanotubes are boron nitride-based.

4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a phase-change storage layer proximate tips of the electron sources.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein each nanotube electron source is elongated.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the nanotubes have an aspect ratio greater than 10:1.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising word and bit lines for addressing the nanotubes.

8. The device of claim 1, further comprising a micromover for positioning the array.

9. A data storage device comprising: an array of carbon-based nanotubes; and a phase-change storage layer proximate tips of the nanotubes.

10. A data storage device comprising: an array of boron nitride-based nanotubes; and a phase-change storage layer proximate tips of the nanotubes.

11. An electron beam source for a data storage device, the source comprising an array of nanotubes.

12. The electron beam source of claim 11, wherein the nanotubes are carbon nanotubes.

13. The electron beam source of claim 11, wherein the nanotubes are boron nitride nanotubes.

14. The source of claim 11, wherein the nanotubes have an aspect ratio greater than 10:1.

15. The source of claim 11, further comprising word and bit lines for addressing the nanotubes.

16. The device of claim 11, further comprising a micromover for positioning the array.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Description

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention relates generally to electron sources. The present invention also relates to data storage devices.

[0002] For decades researchers have been working to increase storage density and reduce storage cost of data storage devices such as magnetic hard-drives, optical drives, and semiconductor random access memory. However, increasing the storage density is becoming increasingly difficult because conventional technologies appear to be approaching fundamental limits on storage density. For instance, information storage based on conventional magnetic recording is rapidly approaching fundamental physical limits such as the superparamagnetic limit, below which magnetic bits are not stable at room temperature.

[0003] Storage devices that do not face these fundamental limits are being researched. An example of such an information storage device is described in Gibson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,596. The device includes multiple electron sources having electron emission surfaces that are proximate a storage medium. During write operations, the electron sources bombard the storage medium with relatively high intensity electron beams. During read operations, the electron sources bombard the storage medium with relatively low intensity electron beams.

[0004] Size of storage bits in such a device may be reduced by decreasing the electron beam diameter. Reducing the storage bit size increases storage density and capacity, and it decreases storage cost.

[0005] "Spindt" emitters could be used for generating focused electron beams in such a device. A Spindt emitter has a conical shape and emits an electron beam at the tip of its cone. The cone tip is made as sharp as possible to reduce operating voltage and achieve a small electron beam diameter.

[0006] However, certain problems arise with Spindt emitters. One problem is that the Spindt emitters are sensitive to impact. The tips of the Spindt emitters are only a few nanometers from the storage medium. If a tip makes contact with the storage medium, it could be damaged. Another problem is directionality of the electron beams emitted from the Spindt emitters. Sometimes an electron beam can come off the side of the cone rather than the tip. Yet another problem is a loss of material from the tips due to energy being greater than the workfunction. The loss of material reduces the effectiveness of the tips.

SUMMARY

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, a data storage device includes nanotubes as electron sources. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the present invention.

LINK

This filing looks like the dominant one - earliest priority date - July 6, 2001.

These are all noted here:
http://www.geocities.com/mr_module/NanoDataRecorders.html?1094841052781

Method of fabricating memory device utilizing carbon nanotubes

United States Patent 7,378,328 Choi, et al., May 27, 2008

Abstract

A fast, reliable, highly integrated memory device formed of a carbon nanotube memory device and a method for forming the same, in which the carbon nanotube memory device includes a substrate, a source electrode, a drain electrode, a carbon nanotube having high electrical and thermal conductivity, a memory cell having excellent charge storage capability, and a gate electrode. The source electrode and drain electrode are arranged with a predetermined interval between them on the substrate and are subjected to a voltage. The carbon nanotube connects the source electrode to the drain electrode and serves as a channel for charge movement. The memory cell is located over the carbon nanotube and stores charges from the carbon nanotube. The gate electrode is formed in contact with the upper surface of the memory cell and controls the amount of charge flowing from the carbon nanotube into the memory cell.

Inventors: Choi; Won-bong (Yongin, KR), Yoo; In-kyeong (Suwon, KR), Chu; Jae-uk (Gwangmyeong, KR)

Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon, Kyungki-do, KR)

http://tinyurl.com/56r5a3

I'm all for it - the more the merrier - Keesmann agrees, I hope.

Phase changeable memory devices including carbon nano tubes

United States Patent 7,378,701 Hideki May 27, 2008, Samsung

Abstract

An integrated circuit phase changeable memory device includes an integrated circuit substrate, a first electrode on the integrated circuit substrate, and a second electrode on the integrated circuit substrate and spaced apart from the first electrode. A carbon nano tube and a phase changeable layer are serially disposed between the first and second electrodes. An insulating layer can include a contact hole and the carbon nano tube may be provided in the contact hole. Moreover, the phase changeable layer also may be provided at least partially in the contact hole. A layer also may be provided at least partially surrounding the carbon nano tube in the contact hole. Related fabrication methods also are provided.

Inventors: Hideki; Horii (Seoul, KR)

Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KR)

http://tinyurl.com/4t5yd4

Not sure if this is coincidental, but here it is - same issue day as UMK's offering and very similar. I think the USPTO lets them slug it out together outside the patent office as to who owns what. UMK's was magnetic while this one is phase change so that could be the distinction.

Large-capacity magnetic memory using carbon nano-tube

United States Patent 7,379,326 Ushida,et al., May 27, 2008

[[Note - Is this CNT emitting? If it is Keesmann applies! It could be big!!!]]

Abstract

A high-capacity magnetic memory capable of writing and reading a magnetic record in/from a magnetic recording film according to a perpendicular magnetic recording system at a high speed in a purely-electrically random access manner. In the magnetic memory, a writing-magnetic-field generating means 62 and a writing word line 43 are disposed relative to a perpendicular magnetic recording film 50, and a reading/writing bit-line conductor 41, a magnetoresistive-effect element 20 and a reading word lead conductor 42 are laminated in order on a probe substrate opposed to the perpendicular magnetic recording film 50. A magnetic probe 30 composed of a carbon nanotube containing a soft magnetic material is disposed relative to the magnetoresistive-effect element 20 in a standing manner, and electrically connected to the reading/writing bit-line conductor. During a writing operation, a micro-discharge is generated in a micro-gap G between the edge of the magnetic probe and the magnetic recording film under a writing magnetic field to allow a writing current to flow through the micro-gap G so as to heat a micro-region of the magnetic recording film in such a manner that it goes through its Curie point to thereby become magnetized in the direction of the recording magnetic field to form a magnetic record therein. During a reading operation, the magnetic record is read out through the magnetic probe in accordance with a current variation in the magnetoresistive-effect element.

Inventors: Ushida; Takashi (Furukawa, JP), Mori; Nobuyuki (Furukawa, JP), Kamijo; Yoshimi (Furukawa, JP), Okazaki; Akihiro (Furukawa, JP), Mitsuzuka; Akira (Furukawa, JP), Hatakeyama; Rikizou (Furukawa, JP), Ido; Hideaki (Furukawa, JP), Nakajima; Ko (Furukawa, JP), Takoshima; Takehiro (Furukawa, JP)

Assignee: UMK Technologies Co., Ltd. (Furukawa-shi, JP)

The nano-magnetic probe 30 is disposed in opposed relation to the perpendicular magnetization film 50 through a micro-gap G, and the space S therebetween is sealed in a vacuum or depressurized state. If the conditions for generating a micro-discharge are satisfied, the space may be maintained under an inert atmosphere instead of the depressurized state. [[Sounds like electron emission is present!]]

http://tinyurl.com/4t5yd4

If this is as big as I think it is or could/will be, it could be worth a pretty penny to us and Keesmann. Don't ya think? Then again it might just be another disappointment - we can handle those!!!!!! We are used to it. ;-)

Refs:
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?wo=2004001851
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP1533846.html

'Avalanche Effect' In Solar Cells Demonstrated

ScienceDaily (May 27, 2008) — Researchers at TU Delft and the FOM Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter have found irrefutable proof that the so-called avalanche effect by electrons occurs in specific, very small semiconducting crystals. This physical effect could pave the way for cheap, high-output solar cells. The findings are to be published in scientific journal Nano Letters.

Solar cells provide great opportunities for future large-scale electricity generation. However, there are currently significant limitations, such as the relatively low output of most solar cells (typically fifteen percent) and high manufacturing costs.

One possible improvement could derive from a new type of solar cell made of semiconducting nanocrystals (crystals with dimensions in the nanometre size range). In conventional solar cells, one photon (light particle) can release precisely one electron. The creation of these free electrons ensures that the solar cell works and can provide power. The more electrons released, the higher the output of the solar cell.

In some semiconducting nanocrystals, however, one photon can release two or three electrons, hence the term avalanche effect. This could theoretically lead to a maximum output of 44 percent in a solar cell comprising the correct semiconducting nanocrystals. Moreover, these solar cells can be manufactured relatively cheaply.

The avalanche effect was first measured by researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratories in 2004. Since then, the scientific world has raised doubts about the value of these measurements. Does the avalanche effect really exist or not?

Within the Joint Solar Programme TU Delft's Prof. Laurens Siebbeles has now demonstrated that the avalanche effect does indeed occur in lead selenide (PbSe) nanocrystals. It has been established, however, that the effect in this material is smaller than previously assumed. Siebbeles' results are more reliable than those of other scientists thanks to more careful and more detailed measurement using ultra-fast laser methods.

Siebbeles believes that this research paves the way for further unravelling the secrets of the avalanche effect.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527091942.htm

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Inventor: SCHMIDT, Howard K.

Hello!! Isn't this NNPP(Nano-Proprietary, now Applied Nanotech - APNT)'s grandpa?

Inventor: SCHMIDT, Howard K.

(WO/2008/060640) NANOPARTICLE / NANOTUBE-BASED NANOELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CHEMICALLY-DIRECTED ASSEMBLY THEREOF

Pub. No.: WO/2008/060640 International Application No.: PCT/US2007/061563
Publication Date: 22.05.2008 International Filing Date: 02.02.2007
IPC: G02B 6/12 (2006.01)

Applicants: WILLIAM MARSH RICE UNIVERSITY [US/US]; 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005 (US) (All Except US).
SCHMIDT, Howard K. [US/US]; 20702 Bradford Creek Ct, Cypress, TX 77433 (US) (US Only).

Inventor: SCHMIDT, Howard K. [US/US]; 20702 Bradford Creek Ct, Cypress, TX 77433 (US).

Agent: SHADDOX, Robert C.; Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.c., P.O. Box 50784, Dallas, TX 75201 (US).
Priority Data:
60/764,636 02.02.2006 US

Title: NANOPARTICLE / NANOTUBE-BASED NANOELECTRONIC DEVICES AND CHEMICALLY-DIRECTED ASSEMBLY THEREOF

Abstract:
According to some embodiments, the present invention provides a nanoelectronic device based on a nanostructure that may include a nanotube with first and second ends, a metallic nanoparticle attached to the first end, and an insulating nanoparticle attached to the second end. The nanoelectronic device may include additional nanostructures so a to form a plurality of nanostructures comprising the first nanostructure and the additional nanostructures. The plurality of nanostructures may arranged in a network comprising a plurality of edges and a plurality of vertices, wherein each edge comprises a nanotube and each vertex comprises at least one insulating nanoparticle and at least one metallic nanoparticle adjacent the insulating nanoparticle. The combination of at least one edge and at least one vertex comprises a diode. The device may be an optical rectenna.

[0005] An attraction for rectenna technology is its high theoretical conversion efficiency - roughly 95%. The greatest conversion efficiency ever recorded by a rectenna element occurred in 1977 by Brown, Raytheon Company. Using a GaAs-Pt Schottky barrier diode, a 90.6% conversion efficiency was recorded with an input microwave-power level of 8W. Conversion efficiencies in the range of 80% are typical, with representative circuits shown below.

[0006] The concept is arbitrarily scaleable, and the optical rectenna is a direct extension to shorter wavelengths. Some of recent work in the area was performed by ITN energy systems [[For background see below!]] under DOE and DARPA sponsorship "BROADBAND OPTICAL RECTENNA FOR ENERGY HARVESTING", CECOM ENERGY HARVESTING PROGRAM Slides, April 14, 2000 ). Such micro- and nano-scale rectenna devices can convert ambient electromagnetic radiation (i.e. solar spectrum, blackbody radiators, active emitters) to DC electric power. The potential is to convert over 85% of the sun's energy to useable power compared to ~30% now achievable with conventional semiconductor based photovoltaics. Such devices may also be applicable to uncooled infrared detectors.

[0007] While the concept has been proven in principal, useful power conversion in the optical frequency range is prevented by the low frequency response of the planar diodes employed.

[0008] Thus there remains a need for optical rectennas having desirable frequency response and power conversion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] These and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of various embodiments, taken together with the accompanying figures and claims, in which:

[0010] According to some embodiments, the present invention provides a nanoelectronic device based on a nanostructure that may include a nanotube with first and second ends, a metallic nanoparticle attached to the first end, and an insulating nanoparticle attached to the second end.

[0011] The nanotube may be conducting. Thus, it may be any one of conducting, semiconducting, and semi-metallic. Further, the nanotube may be a single walled nanotube or a multi-walled nanotube. The nanotube may be primarily carbon.

[0012] The nanotube may absorb light. Yet further, the nanotube may be an antenna.

The length between the first and second ends is about half a wavelength of the light. The light may include at least one of visible and infrared radiation.

[0013] The insulating nanoparticle may be formed of a metal oxide. The metallic nanoparticle may be formed of elemental metal.

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A nanoelectronic device, comprising: a first nanostructure, comprising:

a nanotube having first and second opposing ends; a metallic nanoparticle attached to the first end; and an insulating nanoparticle attached to the second end.

2. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the nanotube is conducting.

3. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the nanotube absorbs light.

4. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 3, wherein the nanotube comprises an antenna.

5. The nanolectronic device according to claim 4, wherein the length between the first and second ends is about half a wavelength of the light.

6. The nanolectronic device according to claim 5, wherein the light comprises at least one of visible and infrared radiation.

7. The nanolectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the insulating nanoparticle comprises a metal oxide.

8. The nanolectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the metallic nanoparticle comprises elemental metal.

9. The nanolectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the nanoelectronic device further comprises additional nanostructures so a to form a plurality of nanostructures comprising the first nanostructure and the additional nanostructures.

10. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of nanostructures is arranged in a network comprising a plurality of edges and a plurality of vertices, wherein each edge comprises a nanotube and each vertex comprises at least one insulating nanoparticle and at least one metallic nanoparticle adjacent the insulating nanoparticle.

11. The nanolectronic device according to claim 10, wherein the combination of at least one edge and at least one vertex comprises a diode.

12. The nanolectronic device according to claim 9, wherein the device is an optical rectenna.

13. A nanoelectronic device comprising an optical rectenna comprising a plurality of nanostructures arranged so as to form a plurality of nanoscale diodes with integrated antennas, wherein each nanostructure comprises:

a conducting nanotube having first and second opposing ends; a metallic nanoparticle attached to the first end, wherein the first nanoparticle comprises elemental metal; and an insulating nanoparticle attached to the second end, wherein the insulating nanoparticle comprises a metal oxide.

14. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 13, wherein the conducting nanotube is metallic.

15. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 13, wherein the conducting nanotube is semi-metallic.

16. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 13, wherein the conducting nanotube is semi-conducting.

17. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 13, wherein the conducting nanotube is a single-walled nanotube.

18. The nanoelectronic device according to claim 13, wherein the conducting nanotube is a multi-walled nanotube.

19. A method of making a nanoelectronic device, comprising: making a plurality of asymmetric nanostructures, wherein making the plurality of nanostructures comprises: providing a plurality of nanotubes, each having a first end functionalized with at least one functionalizing moiety and a second end having a linker molecule attached thereto; attaching a metallic nanoparticle to the linker molecule; and attaching an insulating nanoparticle to the functionalizing moiety.

20. The method according to claim 17, comprising: aligning the plurality of nanostructures so as to form an oriented network.

Source:
http://tinyurl.com/68f82h

*************************************************************
BACKGROUND - ITN Energy Systems:

http://www.itnes.com/about_itn/itn_team.html

Photovoltaic Technologies Beyond the Horizon
Optical Rectenna Solar Cell

1. Background on ITN Energy Systems’ Optical Rectenna Technology
1.1. Motivation for Next-Generation, High-Efficiency Solar Cells

Worldwide energy demands have increased by 40% over the last 20 years.1 Although the deleterious effects of hydrocarbon-based power are becoming increasingly apparent, more than 85% of the world’s power is still generated by combustion of fossil fuels.1 Clean renewable alternative energy sources are required to meet the demands, with direct solar-conversion devices as leading candidates. The worldwide market for conventional photovoltaics (PV) has increased at an annual rate of 20% over the last five years, and industry estimates suggest as much as 18 billion watts per year could ship by 2020.1 To meet the increased demands for solar-conversion technologies, dramatic improvements are required in state-of-the-art PV technologies. Efficiency improvements and cost/complexity reduction are the main issues that need to be addressed to meet these goals.

Traditional p-n junction solar cells are the most mature of the solar-energy-harvesting technologies. Although great improvements have been made in the last 20 years, energy absorption, carrier generation, and collection are all a function of the materials chemistry and corresponding electronic properties (i.e., bandgap). As a quantum device, the efficiency of PV is a function of, and therefore, ultimately fundamentally limited by, the bandgap and the match of the bandgap to the solar spectrum. For single-junction cells, this sets an upper efficiency limit of ~30%.2 Even with complex multi-junction designs, the theoretical efficiency plateaus around 55% without excessive concentration of the incident radiation.3 Current state-of-the-art solar cells are ~20% efficient for single cells and ~30% efficient for multijunction systems.4 In the long term, the PV industry will require newer, higher efficiency technologies to improve performance and to meet the increasing demands of the solar power market.

As an alternative, ITN Energy Systems is developing next-generation solar cells based on the concepts of an optical rectenna (see Figure 1). ITN’s optical rectenna consists of two key elements: 1) an optical antenna to efficiently absorb the incident solar radiation, and 2) a highfrequency metal-insulator-metal (MIM) tunneling diode that rectifies the AC field across the antenna, providing DC power to an external load. The combination of a rectifying diode at the feedpoints of a receiving antenna is often referred to as a rectenna. Rectennas were originally proposed in the 1960s for power transmission by radio waves for remote powering of aircraft for surveillance or communications platforms.5 Conversion efficiencies greater than 85% have been demonstrated at radio frequencies (efficiency defined as DC power generated divided by RF power incident on the device). Later, concepts were proposed to extend the rectennas into the infrared (IR) and optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum for use as energy collection devices (optical rectennas).6
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy03osti/33263.pdf

**************************************************************

BACKGROUND: Boston College - Ren; Zhifeng

United States Patent Application	*20070240757*
Kind Code	A1
Ren; Zhifeng ; et al.	October 18, 2007

Solar cells using arrays of optical rectennas

Abstract

The present invention discloses a solar cell comprising a nanostructure array capable of accepting energy and producing electricity. In an embodiment, the solar cell comprises an at least one optical antenna having a geometric morphology capable of accepting energy. In addition, the cell comprises a rectifier having the optical antenna at a first end and engaging a substrate at a second end wherein the rectifier comprises the optical antenna engaged to a rectifying material (such as, a semiconductor). In addition, an embodiment of the solar cell comprises a metal layer wherein the metal layer surrounds a length of the rectifier, wherein the optical antenna accepts energy and converts the energy from AC to DC along the rectifier. Further, the invention provides various methods of efficiently and reliably producing such solar cells.

Inventors:

Ren; Zhifeng; (Newton, MA) ; Kempa; Krzysztof; (Billerica, MA) ; Wang; Yang; (Allston, MA)

Assignee Name and Adress: The Trustees of Boston College

Link

See also:

(WO/2007/086903) APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION USING NANOCOAX STRUCTURES

[SNIP]

The presently disclosed embodiments generally relate to the use of nano-coaxial transmission lines (NCTL) to fabricate a nano-optics apparatus. The nano-optics apparatus is a multifunctional nano-composite material made of a metallic film having a top surface and a bottom surface and a plurality of cylindrical channels filled with a dielectric material. An array of nanorods penetrate the metallic film through the plurality of cylindrical channels. The array of nanorods has a protruding portion that extends beyond a surface of the metallic film and an embedded portion that is within the metallic film. The protruding portion acts as a nano-antenna and is capable of receiving and transmitting an electromagnetic radiation at a visible frequency. The embedded portion acts as a nano-coaxial transmission line (CTL) and allows for propagation of external radiation with a wavelength exceeding the perpendicular dimensions of the nanorod.

The nano-optics apparatus can concentrate light, and therefore enhance a field up to about 10³ times. The array of optical nano-antennas, with nano-CTL embedded in a metallic film, effectively compresses light into nanoscopic dimensions. The nano-antennas are capable of receiving and transmitting an electromagnetic radiation at the visible frequencies. The extreme compression of light in the nano-CTL leads to an asymmetric tunneling of electrons between the electrodes of the nano-CTL, and thus provides a rectifying action at the light frequencies, and thus conversion of the light into a direct current (DC) voltage. This property leads to a new class of efficient, and low cost rectenna solar cells. The extreme compression of light in the nano-CTL is quick, and is not limited by the usual parasitic capacitances that make the conventional diode rectification inefficient, if not impossible, at the light frequencies.

And these, as well:

Physics Team Sees Potential for 'Perfect' Solar Cell

Solasta Inc.

Abstract

Submitted for the MAR08 Meeting of The American Physical Society

Sorting Category: 16.12.6 (E)
Nanocoax Solar Cells1 M.J. NAUGHTON, K. KEMPA, Z.F. REN, J. RYBCZYNSKI2, T. PAUDEL, Y. GAO, Y. XU, Boston College
A novel architecture for high effciency solar energy conversion, employing separated photo- and -voltaic pathways and antenna-based light collection, is described.

**************************************************************

Dr. Howard K. Schmidt Bio:

Dr. Howard K. Schmidt, Executive Director of the Carbon Nanotechnologies Laboratory

Howard Schmidt is the Executive Director of the Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory (CNL) at Rice University. He is an expert in the field of carbon nanotechnology and single-wall carbon nanotubes, one of the most versatile materials on the nanotechnology horizon. At the CNL, Dr. Schmidt is responsible for developing and managing key federal and industrial relationships to drive emerging applications for carbon nanotubes. He serves on the Board of Directors of Axion Power Corporation (member of Audit and Technology Committees), and the Advisory Board of Texas Nanotech Ventures (Chairman). He also serves occasionally as an Expert Witness or Technology Advisor in patent litigation.

Schmidt's current research and development projects focus on nanostructured carbon and metallic materials for structural composites, energy storage and solar cells.

Prior to joining the CNL, Schmidt founded or co-launched four technology companies over seventeen years: Ionwerks, SI Diamond Technology (SIDT), EQUEX and Road-Show.Com. Schmidt took SIDT public in 1993; the firm (now called NanoProprietary) is a long-time leader in developing nanotechnology applications.

Schmidt holds a Bachelors' in Electrical Engineering (1980) and a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry (1986), both from Rice University.

http://www.tntventures.com/schmidt.html

Re TNT:
http://www.tntventures.com/board.html
(Note 'Zvi Yaniv')

*****************************************************************
Power Review:

http://cohesion.rice.edu/CentersAndInst/CNST/emplibrary/HTC%20Panel%20040615%20Final.ppt

******************************************************************

You know - when I see this kinda statement --The potential is to convert over 85% of the sun's energy to useable power compared to ~30% now achievable-- I get all tingly with excitement, sell oil short and believe in sugarplum fairies!!

And go talk to grandpa just to say hello....and maybe see what's up, too.

The wallet needs filling!

Did you notice Schmidt and Ren are both using CNTs!!!

;-)

Hello grandpa!!!! Come back to NNPP. Bring Boston College and Ren et al with you!!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Carbon nanotubes mimic asbestos in early study

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN – 3 hours ago [May 20, 2008]

BOSTON (AP) — Strong, versatile little "nanotubes" made out of carbon are considered future stars in nanotechnology research in medicine and industry. Now a study finds that longer threads of the stuff mimic the toxic qualities of asbestos, renewing questions about how carbon nanotubes can be used safely.

Researchers with British institutes and the U.S.-based Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies injected mice with asbestos and with commercial samples of carbon nanotubes of varying sizes. When they examined the lining of the rodents' abdominal cavities, the researchers observed that longer nanotubes behaved like asbestos, provoking inflammation and lesions.

The study was reported Tuesday in Nature Nanotechnology, a scientific journal.

Carbon nanotubes are widely available for sale, but the study's authors and outside experts said they are not certain how extensively the materials have begun to be used in electronic gear, composite metal structures or consumer products. Such uses are expected eventually.

Because of that uncertainty, the researchers hope to pressure companies developing carbon nanotube-based materials to reveal whether they are using longer strands such as the ones that appear to act like asbestos — which was once a wonder material, too, before its cancerous consequences were discovered.

"I think it ups the stakes," said one of the authors, Andrew Maynard of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, a partnership of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Pew Charitable Trusts. "Up to this point we could talk hypothetically about the risks, but there wasn't enough there to demand action."

Vicki Colvin, a Rice University chemist who directs the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, said carbon nanotubes' potential applications — such as cars that could be 80 percent lighter than today's models, but just as sturdy — are too powerful to ignore. She said the new study drove home the importance of making sure "we know how to handle it." Colvin was not involved in the new research.

The researchers acknowledged their work had limitations and called for more study.

For one thing, they put nanotubes directly into the abdomens of mice and stopped their experiments after a week — before seeing whether the nanotubes went on to induce mesothelioma, the cancer of the organ lining caused by asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma is slow to develop; it can take 30 to 40 years in humans. But Vincent Castranova, chief of a pathology research unit at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said signs of the cancer would have been apparent in the mice after a month or two.

Whether that would have happened in a meaningful way is a vital question.

Castranova noted that earlier research in Japan, similar to Tuesday's paper, found that mice injected with carbon nanotubes did develop mesothelioma. But the doses of carbon nanotubes were so high that Castranova questioned the results.

And in research in his labs, in which mice are not injected with nanotubes but breathe it into their lungs — the way people would presumably be exposed — the animals developed inflammation that peaked within seven days of exposure, and returned to normal within one or two months.

"Whether the material is asbestos-like is still a question to be debated," Castranova said. "Having a panic that you have the next asbestos is a little bit premature in my view."

It's also worth noting that the new study did not find an asbestos-like effect with shorter or more tangled strands of carbon nanotubes. That does not mean smaller carbon nanotubes are necessarily safe. It just means that the asbestos-like effects in this experiment did not come from inherent properties of all carbon nanotubes. Rather, those effects came from stacking nanotubes together into a long, thin, asbestos-like fiber, which the body struggles to process.

Carbon nanotubes basically are minuscule, rolled pipes of graphite. They can be as narrow as one nanometer, or one billionth of a meter. (For comparison, a human hair is more than 80,000 nanometers across.)

Because their structure endows them with powerful physical properties, such as strength greater than that of steel, carbon nanotubes are being explored for a wide range of uses in electronics and medicine. Some potential applications involve coating the nanotubes in other substances, which could blunt any toxic effects.

For example, researchers have explored using nanotubes as the mechanism for delivering tiny, cancer-killing smart bombs to tumors. Stanford University scientists involved in such work found that coated, short carbon nanotubes — unlike the ones at issue in the asbestos study — were safely digested by mice after being injected into their bloodstreams.

Maynard said the combination of that research with his group's new study "shows there are no simple answers here. What type of materials you're using and what you're using them for makes a big difference."

Source

Nanotech makes radioactive sensors obsolete

R. Colin Johnson
EE Times
(05/20/2008 12:26 PM EDT)

PORTLAND, Ore. — "Green" smoke-alarm ionizers using field-emission from nanotubes instead of radioactive isotopes could eliminate a source of dirty-bomb material, according to recipients of a U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract sponsored by the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Applied Nanotech Inc. (Austin, Texas) and Sionex Corp. (Bedford, Mass.) now have the funding from Homeland Security to produce a small, safe, high-performance sensor using electron field emission from carbon nanotube arrays instead the ionizing alpha rays from radioactive isotopes.

"We believe that carbon nanotube emitters can replace radioactive materials in consumer devices like smoke detectors, industrial sensors, medical equipment, homeland security applications and elsewhere," said Applied Nanotech scientist Richard Fink.

Many American households have as much as a milligram of radioactive americium-241 in the various smoke alarms and other gas-phase detectors found there. About a fifth of a milligram of americium is used to ionize the air inside a smoke detector. But just one gram of americium is dangerous for people to handle; dekagrams to hectograms are enough for "dirty" bombs, and kilograms could be used to make a nuclear bomb.

Instead of seeding our land-fills with radioactive materials like nickel-63 and americium-241, which have half-lives of 100 and 432 years, respectively, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the National Research Council and the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency are all investing in "green" alternatives to radioactive isotopes in smoke alarms and medical diagnostic and research equipment.

The Applied Nanotech and Sionix joint-development effort aims to provide a safe, inexpensive, high-performance alternative method of ionizing samples by using carbon nanotube emitters integrated into air-flow passages ahead of a differential mobility spectrometer. Applied Nanotech and Sionex claim to have proven in principle that carbon nanotube emitters can perform all the necessary ionization and identification steps without the use of radioactive materials.

Ionizing gas molecules

Ion mobility spectroscopy works by ionizing gas molecules as they pass through the sensor, then identifying them by their atomic weight. After ionization of the sample, the molecules are electrically attracted through a drift tube, where they spread out according to their atomic weight, allowing the location to reveal their identity to an integrated detector.

Applied Nanotech's carbon nanotube emitters perform the ionization step instead of using radioactive materials, allowing gas particles to be safely separated and detected by Sionex's integrated differential mobility spectroscopy (DMS).

Carbon nanotube emitters perform the ionization step by concentrating electrical fields in a manner similar to a lightning rod, allowing the emission of electrons at room temperature and at atmospheric pressures. As the electrons pass through the air sample they ionize the gas molecules, thus supplying the charge that enables them to be attracted to the sensors and detectors. Carbon nanotube emitters may impart either positive or negative ionization as needed for a particular sensor.

Source

Titania–germanium nanocomposite for photo-thermo-electric application

Sukti Chatterjee 2008 Nanotechnology 19 265701 (9pp) doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/26/265701

PDF (1.72 MB) | References

Sukti Chatterjee¹
Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA
¹ Present address: Naval Materials Research Laboratory, Defence Research and Development Organization, Ambernath e 421 506, India
E-mail: Sukti@yahoo.com

Abstract. The introduction of germanium (Ge) into titania (TiO₂) creates an attractive semiconductor. The new semiconductor is named titania–germanium (TiO₂–Ge). Ge dots are dispersed in the distorted TiO₂ matrix of TiO₂–Ge. The quantum Bohr radius of Ge is 24.3 nm, and hence the properties of the Ge dot can be varied by tailoring its size if it is smaller than its Bohr radius due to the quantum confinement effect (QCE). Therefore, simply by changing the Ge concentration, the morphology of TiO₂–Ge can be varied within a wide range. Consequently, the optical, electronic and thermal properties of TiO₂–Ge can be tailored. TiO₂–Ge becomes a promising material for the next generation of photovoltaics as well as thermoelectric devices. It could also be used for photo-thermo-electric applications.

Print publication: Issue 26 (2 July 2008)
Received 14 December 2007, in final form 14 April 2008
Published 20 May 2008

PDF (1.72 MB) | References

Source

Monday, May 19, 2008

By adding graphene, researchers create superior polymer

Posted: May 19, 2008
(Nanowerk News) Researchers at Northwestern University and Princeton University have created a new kind of polymer that, because of its extraordinary thermal and mechanical properties, could be used in everything from airplanes to solar cells.
The polymer, a nanocomposite that incorporates functionalized, exfoliated graphene sheets, even conducts electricity, and researchers hope to use that property to eventually create thermally stable, optically transparent conducting polymers.
The results of their research were published May 11 in the online version of Nature Nanotechnology ("Functionalized graphene sheets for polymer nanocomposites"). ****************************** Letter abstract Nature Nanotechnology Published online: 11 May 2008 \| doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.96 Functionalized graphene sheets for polymer nanocomposites T. Ramanathan¹, A. A. Abdala^2,⁷, S. Stankovich³, D. A. Dikin¹, M. Herrera-Alonso², R. D. Piner^1,⁶, D. H. Adamson⁴, H. C. Schniepp², X. Chen¹, R. S. Ruoff^1,⁶, S. T. Nguyen³, I. A. Aksay², R. K. Prud'Homme² & L. C. Brinson^1,⁵ Abstract Polymer-based composites were heralded in the 1960s as a new paradigm for materials. By dispersing strong, highly stiff fibres in a polymer matrix, high-performance lightweight composites could be developed and tailored to individual applications¹. Today we stand at a similar threshold in the realm of polymer nanocomposites with the promise of strong, durable, multifunctional materials with low nanofiller content^2,^3,^4,^5,^6,^7,^8,^9,^10,¹¹. However, the cost of nanoparticles, their availability and the challenges that remain to achieve good dispersion pose significant obstacles to these goals. Here, we report the creation of polymer nanocomposites with functionalized graphene sheets, which overcome these obstacles and provide superb polymer–particle interactions. An unprecedented shift in glass transition temperature of over 40 °C is obtained for poly(acrylonitrile) at 1 wt% functionalized graphene sheet, and with only 0.05 wt% functionalized graphene sheet in poly(methyl methacrylate) there is an improvement of nearly 30 °C. Modulus, ultimate strength and thermal stability follow a similar trend, with values for functionalized graphene sheet– poly(methyl methacrylate) rivaling those for single-walled carbon nanotube–poly(methyl methacrylate) composites. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA Present Address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-0292, USA Present Address: Chemical Engineering Program, The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Correspondence to: L. C. Brinson^1,⁵ e-mail: cbrinson@northwestern.edu *******************************
Researcher at the McCormick School of Engineering originally teamed up with researchers at Princeton several years ago. McCormick researchers had experience working with polymer nanocomposites, and Princeton researchers had developed a way to exfoliate, or split apart, graphite sheets into very thin single layer, surface-functionalized graphene sheets.
Previous use of graphite in polymers did not garner significantly improved properties since researchers could never get the graphite exfoliated. That meant the graphite was rigid with a low surface area and could only minimally impact properties of the polymer.
But when researchers put even a small amount the newly exfoliated graphene sheets — enough to equal only .05 percent of the material — into the polymer, they found the graphene changed the polymer’s thermal stability temperature by 30 degrees. Even adding graphene sheets equal to .01 percent of the material increased stiffness by 33 percent — far beyond what researchers had predicted. The drastic changes in both the thermal stability and the stiffness after adding just a tiny percentage of functionalized graphene indicated that the graphene changes large regions of the polymer radiating out from the nanoparticle surfaces in a percolating network structure.
The new polymer nanocomposite based on graphene also exhibited the same or superior thermal and mechanical properties as using functionalized single-wall nanotubes in polymer — but was much easier and cheaper to create.
“This is the first time people have been able to demonstrate dramatically altered properties like this with really small quantities of graphite-based materials,” says Cate Brinson, Jerome B. Cohen Professor of Mechanical Engineering and corresponding author of the paper.
The graphene sheets also will inherently be able to block moisture and gases from penetrating the material as well as change the thermal stability temperature and improve mechanical properties, making the durable polymer a candidate for use in everything from aircrafts to sports equipment to solar cells
“I think it has enormous potential,” Brinson says. “With the ready availability of graphite and the properties we have demonstrated, this new material will enable significant structural scale use of carbon-based nanocomposites.”
Next researchers are studying the polymer’s electroconductivity, quantifying and optimizing the results with the goal of creating optically transparent conducting polymers that are thermomechanically stable.

Source: Northwestern University

Source

A new artificial virus construction with therapeutic potential

By Yun Xie | Published: May 19, 2008 - 09:06AM CT

For years, scientists have been trying to create artificial viruses that are as proficient as natural ones in delivering materials to cells. Successful, artificial viruses could carry therapeutic agents into human cells to treat a variety of diseases. Unfortunately, synthesizing an artificial virus with the ideal shape and size for maximum delivery efficiency is extremely difficult. A common method for their generation involves polyion coupling, which often leads to aggregates with uncontrollable dimensions.

The Lee research group at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea found an alternate strategy, one that used pre-organized supramolecular nanostructures to construct, for the first time, a filament-shaped artificial virus. Filamentous shaped nanostructures last longer in vivo, and many natural viruses are filamentous. The process started with the creation of Glu-KW, a β-sheet peptide based supramolecule. Glu-KW's self-assembeled β-sheet contains two linkers: a nucleic acid-binding segment and a carbohydrate ligand. The β-sheet consists of alternating hydrophobic and charged amino acids, assisting the self-assembly. Glu-KW is coated with glucose to shield the charges on the surface of the β ribbon, which increases the chance of cell binding.

Artificial virus with siRNA and guest Lee's group proposed that the self-assembled virus can bind to therapeutic agents and deliver it into the cell. They tested their idea using small interfering RNA (siRNA), a double stranded RNA that induces specific post-transcriptional gene-silencing. Based on evidence from circular dichroism and transmission electron microscopy, their artificial virus can make a complex with the negatively charged siRNA. To examine the virus' ability as an intracellular siRNA delivery carrier, the chemists compared Glu-KW with Lipofectamine 2000, a commercial compound with high siRNA transfection efficiencies, using a human cervical cancer cell line. In gene knockdown experiments, Glu-KW performed just as well as Lipofectamine 2000.

In addition to delivering nucleic acids like siRNA, the artificial virus can also carry a hydrophobic guest molecule because the β ribbon bilayer forms a hydrophobic space useful for encapsulation. The chemists tested Glu-KW's potential for delivering nile red, a hydrophobic stain, while the virus was complexed with siRNA. Nile red was delivered to the cytoplasm and nucleus of the cells and gene knockdown still occurred, although with less efficiency.

The β ribbon templates are capable of assembling artificial viruses with favorable sizes and shapes. The virus' simultaneous ability to deliver genetic materials and hydrophobic therapeutic reagents are particularly useful, and the researchers' approach is flexible and allows for a variety of structural changes to the virus. Until we study the toxicology of these artificial viruses, however, we cannot judge their full potential for treating diseases.

Angewandte, 2008. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200800266

Source

Nanohealing Material Heads to Market

Monday, May 12, 2008

A startup is planning human trials for a nanostructured material that quickly stops bleeding.

By Kevin Bullis

Blood stopper: The clear fluid in this dish transforms into a gel in the presence of blood; such a gel can stops bleeding almost instantly.
Credit: Asia Kepka

A startup based in Cambridge, MA, says that it plans to soon begin clinical trials of a nanostructured material that stops bleeding almost instantly. A startup called Arch Therapeutics has licensed the technology from MIT and is developing manufacturing processes for making it in large amounts.

The new material can be poured over a site and will stop the bleeding almost at once.

The first application, pending Food and Drug Administration approval, will be for use during surgery to quickly stop bleeding and even prevent it in the first place. Floyd Loop, currently an advisor to Arch Therapeutics, and formerly a cardiovascular surgeon and the head of Cleveland Clinic, says that it could be useful in a wide variety of surgeries, including brain, heart, and prostate. For example, he says that when large tumors are removed, "there's a lot of diffuse bleeding around the site, and you have to spend a lot of time with sponges and cautery stopping it."

Loops says that in addition to saving time, which can improve the outcome of a surgery, the material could decrease the need for transfusions and reoperations to control bleeding. What's more, it could reduce the risk of infection. It could be used, for instance, to prevent leakage after bowel-repair surgery. "I've never seen anything like it," Loop says.

Eventually, the material could be used by first responders to stop bleeding at accident sites and on the battlefield. It has a long shelf life, which makes it attractive for use in first-aid kits. It's also easily broken down by the body, so it doesn't have to be removed, unlike other agents for stopping blood flow. However, Loop cautions that further tests are needed to confirm that the material will work in nonsurgical applications.

The material, a synthetic peptide, was discovered at MIT in the early 1990s. But it wasn't until a few years ago that its potential for stopping bleeding was discovered. Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, a researcher at MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, was exploring its potential use to promote the healing of brain injuries. When he applied a liquid containing the synthetic peptides to a wound site in animal experiments, bleeding in the area stopped within a few seconds. Arch Therapeutics was founded in mid-2006 to develop the material for commercial use. The company made its first public appearance late last month when it announced a finalized licensing agreement for the new technology.

Source

Inkjet-printable Solar Panels... Really!

Submitted by Jane Poynter on 23 August 2007 - 5:40pm. Environment

Research in all manner of renewable energy technologies abounds. There’s tidal energy, underwater turbines, biological fuel cells, cow poop power. You name it someone’s probably having a go at it. Now researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology have come up with the kind of power source that is reminiscent of the Star Trek materializer – solar cells that spew out of an inkjet printer. It’s so simple, anyone can do it.

No more bulky, unsightly roof-top panels. No more taking out a second mortgage to do the right thing and be off the grid. Nope, you just slide in the flexible ‘paper’, hit the print button, and out pops a slender solar panel of the size and shape you designate – cheap and easy.

Instead of wrapping cars in advertisements to make money, let’s wrap ‘em to make energy. Roll up your “power pad” and take it camping. Slather your roof in power grids – and no one can accuse you of violating your home owners’ association regulations.

Oh, and did I mention the researchers think you'll be able to paint this stuff on as well? Run into a disaster zone, slap some solar paint onto a flat surface that is looking at the sun, and voila! Instant power.

Unhappily, the folks at NJIT aren’t quite ready to paint my motorcycle helmet with the stuff so I can plug in my iPod and listen endlessly to NPR’s Climate Connections while zooming down the highway. However, they have got experimental units working in their labs.

Prof. Somenath Mitra and Dr. Cheng Li with a laboratory-scale nanotube solar cell (Photo courtesy New Jersey Insititute of Technology)

They’ve discovered that mixing Buckyballs with carbon nanotubes – single wall carbon tubes 50,000 times thinner than a human hair – makes an electrical conductor better than any conventional wire. “Actually, nanotubes are significantly better conductors than copper,” said Professor Mitra, the brains behind the discovery.

“Right now we use a reaction in a microwave to combine the nanotubes with the fullerenes (Buckyballs), and then coat them on [a] plastic sheet. Although we are not printing them now, it is clearly the same kind of approach.”

Here’s how it works in very simplistic terms. Sunlight falls on the plastic sheet – which is not exactly any old plastic. It’s a fancy polymer made for solar applications. The sunlight excites the polymer so it produces electrons. The Buckyballs snatch up the electrons, hand them off to the nanotubes to transport them. The current then flows down wires connected to the solar cell and lights up your house. Or billboard. Or boat. Or whatever else you want it to power up.

(Drawing courtesy of New Jersey Institute of Technology)

Earlier this year, Mitra published the results of his research, which advances thin-film technology. His paper “Fullerene single wall carbon nanotube complex for polymer bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells” was featured as the June 21, 2007 cover story of the Journal of Materials Chemistry printed by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and details the process. The Society, based at Oxford University, is the British equivalent of the American Chemical Society.

Early thin-film solar cells already on the market haven’t yet slashed the cost of solar cell production as hoped. They have, however, increased applications. Power Film, for instance, advertises solar cells that adhere to fabric used as building canopies. I’ve been lusting after one of those backpacks with flexible, lightweight, thin-film solar cells sewn in. You can even find transparent ones on windows.

One of the challenges with thin films is that they are typically less efficient than traditional silicon-based solar cells. In 2006, California’s SunPower introduced its silicon-based cell that boasted a record-breaking 22% conversion of sunlight into electricity (most are less than 20% efficient). Thin films currently convert less than 15%.

Silicon-based systems make up 86% of the world’s solar panels, but are ultimately highly limited in scope. In 2006 their production ate up one third of the world’s electronic-grade silicon, thereby hampering manufacturing capabilities, and preventing the industry from meeting demand. A primary attraction for polymer-based thin film technologies is that they don't use a jot of silicon.

What Mitra says sets his apart from other thin-film applications is the speed with which the Buckyball-nanotube complex conducts the electricity, thereby catapulting efficiency... in theory, at least. According to Mitra, their lab test cells are not exactly screaming fast, but the first challenge was simply to make a system that works, which they have successfully done.

The Buckyball-fullerine complex “can be added to any solar to enhance it further, even the quantum dot one,” says Mitra. Quantum Dot solar cells, or QD for short, are nanocrystals embedded in a support matrix. The size of the dot dictates what wavelengths it absorbs, thereby allowing the dots to be tuned to whatever wavelength the support matrix best transmits, making them incredibly efficient.

Where the theoretical efficiency limit of silicon-based cells is on the order of 33%, QD’s is more than 40%. The firm Evident Technologies, which is developing QDs, claims it is as high as 60%. In any event, it’s a lot better than what is currently on my garage roof. Adding Mitra’s technology to QDs would supposedly further boost the amount of sunlight transformed into electricity.

There are other highly effective technologies on the rise, of course. Last year, Boeing announced it had made prototype solar cells that reached just over 40% efficiency - the most efficient ones produced to date. Apparently, Sharp Electronics has made cells reaching 36%.

The battle to make low-cost, efficient solar cells that everyone can use and afford is roiling with hundreds of firms trying to hit it big with the technology that will light every house in sun soaked regions of America and beyond. Whether it’s Mitra’s or someone else’s that wins the race, the future of solar technology looks very bright indeed.

Source

NanoViricides' EKC Eye Drug Demonstrates Significant Therapeutic Efficacy in Initial Animal Trials

Monday May 19, 7:00 am ET

First Treatment Success against a Non-Enveloped Virus

WEST HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) (the “Company”), said that it has received positive initial results from the animal trials of its drug candidates for the treatment of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), a severe viral infection of the eye. Evidence of significant effectiveness was clinically observed in treated infected eyes.

“We were very pleased with the rapid response to treatment, and we had the opportunity to observe the excellent clinical response ourselves,” said Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of the Company. “The clinical results we observed are far superior to any data reported in the literature,” said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, President of the Company.

The EKC study which is designed with a duration of four weeks, is currently in progress at a major medical center. Analysis of biological samples is expected to take several weeks following the completion of the study. The Company plans to make preliminary results available publicly as they are obtained.

There are approximately 5 million cases annually of this disease in the US, Europe and Japan. No adequate treatment exists at present. The infection causes severe pain, blurriness of vision and occasional blindness. While the Company currently has no approved product for the treatment of EKC and viral conjunctivitis, the Company projects the market for EKC and viral conjunctivitis may be several billion dollars annually.

The Company has now shown that two of its broad-spectrum nanoviricide drug candidates have excellent efficacies against substantially different virus types. We have now shown these nanoviricides to be very effective against certain non-enveloped viruses such as the EKC-causing adenovirus. Previously we have shown them to be highly effective against common influenza, bird flu (H5N1), rabies, and Ebola virus.

About NanoViricides:

NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide™ class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H5N1 bird flu, seasonal influenza, HIV, EKC, hepatitis C, rabies, dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.

Contact:

NanoViricides, Inc.
Amanda Schuon, 310-550-7200
info@nanoviricides.com

Source: NanoViricides, Inc.

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to Solidify Their Relationship

Marketwire
May 19, 2008: 09:15 AM EST

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. (OTCBB: NNPP) announced that its subsidiary, Applied Nanotech, Inc. ("ANI"), has agreed to solidify its relationship with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. The parties agreed to extend the option agreement and continue negotiations toward the framework of a master practical relationship and agreement. This represents the next step in the development of ANI's relationship with Mitsui. See press releases dated March 6, 2007 and July 27, 2007.

Under the proposed structure, Mitsui will hold a contingent license, locking in the terms under which Mitsui will be able to extend sublicenses to its prospects. Mitsui has paid a fee to protect their position as the exclusive master license holder by continuing the current option agreement until July 31, 2008. At that time, the existing option agreement will terminate. During the next three months the companies intend to jointly expedite the discussions with potential sublicensees already identified by Mitsui. The proposed master practical agreement may include an exclusive agency agreement and/or an exclusive license agreement. The parties intend to continuously monitor the sublicensing process and adjust their understanding and activities accordingly.

"I am pleased that this relationship is moving in the direction of Mitsui becoming our exclusive licensee for lighting products with several sublicense relationships," said Thomas F. Bijou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nano-Proprietary, Inc.

ABOUT NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. is a holding company consisting of two wholly owned operating subsidiaries. Applied Nanotech, Inc. is a premier research and commercialization organization dedicated to developing applications for nanotechnology with an extremely strong position in the fields of electron emission applications from carbon film/nanotubes, sensors, functionalized nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics. Electronic Billboard Technology, Inc. (EBT) possesses technology related to electronic digitized sign technology. The Companies have over 250 patents or patents pending. Nano-Proprietary's business model is to license its technology to partners that will manufacture and distribute products using the technology. Nano-Proprietary's website is www.nano-proprietary.com.

COMPANY CONTACT
Doug Baker
Chief Financial Officer
Nano-Proprietary, Inc.
248.391.0612
Email Contact
MEDIA CONTACT
William J. Spina
781.378.2000
Email Contact

Source

Field emission boosts Samsung LCD contrast to 300,000

by Steve Bush

Monday 12 May 2008

Samsung has demonstrated an LCD with a field emission backlight (FEB) - achieving a claimed 300,000:1 contrast ratio.

Key to this astonishingly high contrast - using a LCD panel, where 1,500:1 is generally the limit - is to make a backlight of a course array of pixels, and to turn off the pixels behind dark areas of the screen.

In Samsung's case, the backlight is broken into 2,800 (70x40) 1cm squares behind the 32in. LCD, and each of these pixels can be brightened as well as extinguished.

Between LCD and backlight, a translucent sheet blurs the squares preventing their sharp edges being seen through the LCD.

Field emission devices use sharp points in a vacuum as electron sources, and a high voltage to accelerate these electrons in to a phosphor screen.

In this case, the FEB uses carbon nanotubes as emissive tips and a triode structure including a grid to allow each 1cm square to be modulated.

The cathode is a tangle of nanotubes deposited on a flat surface, treated with an elastomer which encourages the free ends of exposed nanotubes stand up straight. This creates a random forest of emissive tips.

Above this sits the control grid for each square which has 120x120 40[micro]m holes on a 70[micro]m pitch for electrons to pass through.

Above this is the transparent anode, biased to 15kV, coated with a mixed red-green-blue phosphor.

The backlight produces 6,000cd/m², reduced by 95 per cent by the inherent absorption of the LCD panel.

Current density in the emissive tips, said Samsung, is low enough to expect long life from the backlight.

Source

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Google and Ormat discussing geothermal energy projects

18/05/2008

Ormat is one of the companies Google is talking to about alternative energy, co-founder Sergey Brin told TheMarker in an interview over the weekend.

Brin, 34, was in Israel for President Shimon Peres' presidential conference "Facing Tomorrow," and visited Google's Israeli offices as well.

Brin, who called Ormat an incredible company, said there were a lot of interesting Israeli companies that worked in renewable and alternative energy, as well as electric cars.

He refused to say if Google was on the verge of closing any deals to purchase Israeli companies, but did say the conditions were very good for Google to buy Israeli firms in the next year.

Senior Google executives met with their counterparts from Ormat at two alternative energy conferences, including a presentation on geothermal energy. Larry Page, the other co-founder of Google, even visited an Ormat geothermal plant in Desert Peak, Nevada.

Ormat is considered the world leader in geothermal energy.

The relations between the two firms started after Google announced its strategic RE

The goal of the initiative is to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal.

Google's program initially will focus on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies.

Page said, "Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades."

One gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco.

Google operates in the alternative energy field through its philanthropic arm, Google.org. Google's headquarters has solar panels that generate 1.6 megawatts.

Ormat chairman Lucien Bronicki said in response that the meetings with Google are being held on a professional basis in order to advance geothermal technology. The firms are working to advance legislation for advanced geothermal technology development budgets from the U.S. government.

In February, Ormat announced a test of what is know as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology, to be done in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy.

The plan is to increase the output of one of Ormat's geothermal wells with the new technology by turning marginal wells into profitable ones.

Brin also praised Google Israel's contributions to the parent company, mentioning applications such as Google Trends and Google Suggest, among dozens of others built in Israel.

As to local sales, he refused to give numbers, but did say they were going very well, and that Internet advertising in Israel works amazingly well.

Source

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Samsung - United States Patent 7,372,194 - Moon, May 13, 2008

Electron emission source composition for flat panel display and method of producing electron emission source for flat panel display using the same

Abstract

Disclosed is an electron emission source composition for a flat panel display using the same, comprising carbon nanotubes, a vehicle, and an organotitanium or an organometallic compound, and a method of producing the electron emission source composition having improved adherent strength with the substrate and providing stable and uniform electron emitting characteristics.

Inventors: Moon; Jong-Woon (Busan, KR)
Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. (Suwon, KR)

What is claimed is:

1. A flat panel comprising: a substrate; an electrode formed on the substrate; and an electron emission source layer formed on the electrode, a surface of the layer having micro-cracks in a range of about 0.1 .mu.m to about 100 .mu.m, wherein the electron emission source layer comprises: carbon nanotubes; a vehicle; and an organotitanium crack formation compound or an organometallic crack formation compound.

2. The flat panel of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes are present in a range of 5 wt % and 80 wt %, and the organotitanium crack formation compound or the organometallic crack formation compound is present in a range of 20 wt % and 95 wt %.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7,372,194.PN.&OS=PN/7,372,194&RS=PN/7,372,194

Kinda reminds me at first glance (!!) of a combination of SED and CNT, cracks and C nanotubes in those micro-cracks - between 0.1 and 100 mu.m across (X by 1000 to get nm).

Moon me!

Samsung rules!!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. and NanoReady Ltd. Announce Strategic Alliance to Commercialize Metallic Nanoparticles

Marketwire
May 15, 2008: 09:05 AM EST

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. (OTCBB: NNPP), through its subsidiary, Applied Nanotech, Inc. (ANI), and NanoReady Ltd. of Israel announced a strategic alliance for the manufacturing in volume metallic nanoparticles using NanoReady's wet chemistry process.

The initial focus of the strategic alliance will be volume production of copper nanoparticles to be utilized on a worldwide exclusive basis by ANI and its partner in Japan (a leading industrial chemical products company, see the press release of October 1, 2007) for producing inkjettable copper inks for the flexible electronics, solar cell, digital printed circuit board (PCB) and many other industries.

The current agreement with NanoReady is highly important due to ANI's fast progress in developing inkjettable copper inks. Based on this progress ANI and its partner in Japan decided that it would be important to secure volume production of copper nanoparticles and, in the future, other metallic nanoparticles for their metallic ink products.

"We are very pleased to cooperate with NanoReady and develop our products based on their proprietary wet chemistry process that is inducible to high volume production of copper nanoparticles required for our ink products," said Dr. Zvi Yaniv, president and CEO of ANI.

Ronen Frish, NanoReady's CEO, adds: "The cooperation of our two companies opens a broad range of new opportunities within the ink industry and will lead to opportunities in additional industries."

ABOUT NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.

Nano-Proprietary, Inc. is a holding company consisting of two wholly owned operating subsidiaries. Applied Nanotech, Inc. is a premier research and commercialization organization dedicated to developing applications for nanotechnology with an extremely strong position in the fields of electron emission applications from carbon film/nanotubes, sensors, functionalized nanomaterials, and nanoelectronics. Electronic Billboard Technology, Inc. (EBT) possesses technology related to electronic digitized sign technology. The Companies have over 250 patents or patents pending. Nano-Proprietary's business model is to license its technology to partners that will manufacture and distribute products using the technology. Nano-Proprietary's website is www.nano-proprietary.com.

COMPANY CONTACT
Doug Baker
Chief Financial Officer
Nano-Proprietary, Inc.
248.391.0612
Email Contact
MEDIA CONTACT
William J. Spina
781.378.2000
Email Contact

Source

NanoReady Collaborative, Fast-track Improvement of Products

NanoReady is dedicated to enhancing specific characteristics of a selected element while maintaining its physical dimensions, thus enabling manufacturers to improve products and save process time and costs.

NanoReady Service is designed for manufacturers and product developers who have not yet explored the capabilities of Nanotechnology and wish to improve their products, as well as those who have nanotechnology know-how, and wish to further improve the characteristics of their products. A Nanotechnology project with NanoReady scientist will commonly be completed in the time range of 2-6 months.

Business Model

We have established a proven, effective working process for implementing a nanotechnology project with NanoReady’s scientists and industrial production experts:

NanoReady works with you to discuss which critical elements of your product may be improved with nanoparticle additives.
Together the expected material or product improvement will be defined and technical specifications for the given element/materials agreed.
NanoReady defines the detailed project roadmap.
NanoReady produces the enhanced element/materials prototype
Joint performance testing at your production site (stress or other tests, as appropriate)
If all tests are successfully performed, NanoReady works with you to set logistics for the implementation process.

Typically, the above process can be completed in 2- 6 months, enabling a fast time to market.

NanoReady Service can be implemented several times, including the exploration of further improvements to products that have already gone through the NanoReady Service process, enabling the improvement of additional parameters or changes to the physical dimensions without compromising performance.

Source

Innovalight's Silicon Ink

May 14, 2008

by Joe Kwiatkowski, Physicist, Imperial College London

London, UK [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

The last quarter of 2007 was an exciting time for the Silicon Valley start-up Innovalight: first a successful finance round that drew US $28 million of new capital, then the accolade of being amongst Red Herring's top one hundred innovators. Why the interest in Innovalight? Because of its remarkable claim to be able to print thin-film silicon solar cells.

Printing is generally a low-cost and high throughput process, in stark contrast to conventional methods used to produce amorphous and crystalline silicon solar cells. As such, Innovalight claims it will be able to substantially reduce the cost of photovoltaics. In a recent interview, CEO Conrad Burke predicted cells may eventually be sold for US $1 per watt — a figure perhaps determined less by technological considerations and more by similar claims made by his neighbors like Nanosolar.

Although details remain tightly guarded secrets, the essential element of Innovalight's process is an ink made of silicon nanocrystals. These nanoparticles can be made in a variety of ways, for example by assembling a group of molecules that contain silicon and then burning off everything except the silicon.

A patent filed in 2005 suggests that Innovalight is using a "radiofrequency plasma" to make its nanoparticles. By blasting silicon rich molecules with an electromagnetic field (at a radio frequency) it is possible to generate a gas in which some of the molecules have lost an electrical charge. Whilst charged, the molecules are extremely reactive and, with a bit of careful chemistry, can be coerced into forming nanoparticles.

By suspending these nanoparticles in a solvent to make an ink, Innovalight can then print silicon films. However, as printed, the nanoparticles are not interconnected and so the film has a high electrical resistance. To lower the resistance, the nanoparticles have to be joined by heating them until their edges are melted, at which point neighboring particles can fuse. The melting point of bulk silicon is over 1400º C and the cost of heating is a substantial cost in the production of crystalline silicon solar cells. However, a fortunate advantage of using smaller particles is that they have lower melting temperatures. Purposefully vague in their descriptions, Innovalight says only that it uses temperatures between 300 and 900º C, (possibly at high pressure and for times that could be anywhere between 5 minutes and 10 hours). Whatever the exact details, the company evidently hopes that a low-temperature printing process could offer substantial savings over conventional silicon solar cells.

It is still unclear what efficiencies Innovalight will achieve. Presumably, because it is working with thin-film solar cells, its silicon is substantially amorphous and would therefore have stabilized efficiencies of about 10%. Whatever the efficiency, and despite the difficulties that are inevitable in developing a new technology, an advantage of Innovalight's manufacturing process is that there is a wonderful number of variables that can be adjusted to get the most out of the cells. For example, nanoparticles can be grown in a variety of shapes and sizes or different nanoparticles can be mixed to determine the exact properties of the printed cell. Or, by adding germanium and tin nanoparticles to the ink, the light absorption properties can be tuned; by printing successive layers with different absorption properties, tandem solar cells could be built that would allow higher efficiencies to be reached.

Though it is probable that Innovalight will have to compromise on cell efficiency in order maintain low costs, it has come up with a phenomenon that might just help make up for its losses. According to a recent paper published in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), "multiple exciton generation" has been measured in Innovalight's silicon nanoparticles. What this means is that the nanoparticles might be able to produce more electrical charges than would normally be expected from a given amount of sunlight. Without this effect, the highest efficiency that a standard solar cell could ever achieve is 31%; anything else is thermodynamically impossible. However, with multiple exciton generation, the thermodynamic limit is boosted to 44%. If Innovalight could take advantage of this phenomenon it might be able to match, or even exceed, the efficiencies of conventional silicon technologies.

With its new funds Innovalight plans to construct a 3000 square meter manufacturing facility in California, and to triple its workforce over the next year. Although there is no official date on the company's website for the start of production, 2009 has been suggested elsewhere. Until then, all we can hope for from Innovalight's printers are more announcements of funds and awards.

Joe Kwiatkowski is a physicist at Imperial College London, where he works on organic photovoltaics. His current interest is the development of computational methods that can aid the design and optimization of new photovoltaic materials.

Source

Thursday, May 15, 2008

WIPO Publications today for NNPP

Results of searching in PCT for:
"Yaniv, Zvi" AND DP/15/05/2008: 3 records
Showing records 1 to 3 of 3 :

Title
Pub. Date
App. Num
Inventor
Applicant

1. (WO 2008/057623)
COMPOSITES
15.05.2008
PCT/US2007/065923
MAO, Dongsheng
NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-00&SORT=41239397-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1473163&C=00&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=1&TOTAL=3&START=1&DISP=50&FORM=SEP-1/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,AN,IN,PA&SEARCH_IA=US2007065923&QUERY=%22Yaniv%2c+Zvi%22+AND+DP%2f15%2f05%2f2008

2. (WO 2008/057614)
FUNCTIONALIZED CARBON NANOTUBES
15.05.2008
PCT/US2007/060881
YANIV, Zvi
NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-00&SORT=41239397-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1473042&C=00&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=2&TOTAL=3&START=1&DISP=50&FORM=SEP-1/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,AN,IN,PA&SEARCH_IA=US2007060881&QUERY=%22Yaniv%2c+Zvi%22+AND+DP%2f15%2f05%2f2008

3. (WO 2008/057122)
CAPACITANCE BASED BIOSENSOR
15.05.2008
PCT/US2006/062540
NOVAK, James
NANO-PROPRIETARY, INC.
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-00&SORT=41239397-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=1471646&C=00&ELEMENT_SET=BASICHTML-ENG&RESULT=3&TOTAL=3&START=1&DISP=50&FORM=SEP-1/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,AN,IN,PA&SEARCH_IA=US2006062540&QUERY=%22Yaniv%2c+Zvi%22+AND+DP%2f15%2f05%2f2008

3 today! Are they money makers? Could be - I sure hope so.

Is that 2nd one to fix the Da Ling delay in producing a CNT TV pilot line????
Note this Da Ling/NNPP PR:
http://www.appliednanotech.net/PDFs/Mar_20_2006.pdf

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Role Of Nanotechnology In Developing Antiviral Agents

Nanoviricides

Nanoviricides (NanoViricides Inc) are polymeric micelles, which act as nanomedicines to destroy viruses. As defined by Nanoviricides Inc, "a nanoviricide is a polymeric single chemical chain with covalently attached ligands that specify the virus target. The antiviral spectrum of the drug is determined by the specificity of the set of ligands attached to the chain, in addition to other functionally important aspects inherent in the chemistries".

Nanoviricide is designed to seek a specific virus type, attach to the virus particle, engulf or coat the virus particle, thereby neutralizing the virus’s infectivity, destabilize and possibly dismantle the virus particle, and optionally it may also be made capable of attacking the viral genome thereby destroying the virus completely. Active pharmaceutical ingredients are optional and can be hidden in the core of the nanoviricide missile.

Role of micelles in nanopharmaceuticals

Micelles, biocompatible and flexible nanoparticles varying in size from about 20 to 200 nm in which poorly soluble drugs can be encapsulated, represent a possible solution to the delivery problems associated with such compounds and could be exploited to target the drugs to particular sites in the body, potentially alleviating toxicity problems. Cell membranes are one example of a micelle, a strong bilayer covering that is made of two sheets of lipid-based amphiphiles, molecules that have a hydrophilic, end and a hydropho bic end. Like two pieces of cellophane tape being brought together, the hydrophobic sides of the amphiphilic sheets stick to one another, forming the bilayered micelle. Polymeric micelles, sometimes referred to as "soft nanoparticles" in contrast to metal nanoparticles, can be synthesized and take any of the three basic shapes: globules, cylinders and sack-like vesicles. Traditionally, various metal nanoparticles have been attached to micelles to facilitate intracellular drug delivery, e.g. in cancer. Several academic institutions and companies are working on micelles for drug delivery.

pH-sensitive drug delivery systems can be engineered to release their contents or change their physicochemical properties in response to variations in the acidity of the surroundings. One example of this is the preparation and characterization of novel polymeric micelles (PM) composed of amphiphilic pH-responsive poly(Nisopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) or poly(alkyl(meth)acrylate) derivatives (Dufresne et al 2004). Maelor Pharmaceuticals (Newbridge, UK) is using micelle nanotechnology to entrap drugs inside polymer nanoparticles for delivery of effective concentrations of otherwise insoluble drugs to tissues. Micelles have also been used as non-viral vectors for delivery of DNA in gene therapy.

PreserveX™ Polymeric Micelles (QBI Life Sciences), with average diameter of 21
nanometers, are useful in working with difficult to handle proteins, such as the membrane proteins. These proteins reside on, near or embedded in cellular membranes and represent 70% of all known drug targets. In the presence of native cell membrane fractions, these micelles self-assemble and embed pieces of cellular membranes in the complex creating multiple particles each providing an environment similar to that of the native membrane. Solubilization of membrane proteins and associated lipids from membrane fractions result in stabilized micelle/protein/lipid complexes. Another QBI product, PreserveX™-QML-B Polymeric Micelles, contains a biotin label enabling the placement of the micelle/protein/lipid complex onto a solid support such as a protein microarray. Once immobilized with use of streptavidin, ligand binding or enzymatic activity can be determined, or the presence of the protein can be confirmed.

Some physicochemical characteristics common to polymeric micelles

Characteristics that distinguish polymeric micelles from other pharmaceuticals and
biologicals are:

§ They are conformationally flexible polymers, i.e. well defined non-particulate
materials. The material product can be defined operationally (i.e. in terms of
processes used to make it), and further can be characterized in terms of average result values of chemistries (e.g. average MW, and MWD, average number of ligands per chain, etc.).

§ As a polymer, it is not possible to manufacture a single molecular weight (MW)
species. However, it is generally possible to operationally define a molecular weight distribution of a production batch. The actual MW distribution can be characterized, but the result values are strongly dependent on the technique of measurement

§ Single molecular chains with heterogeneous molecular sizes.

§ Only polymer chemistries enable substantial attachment of ligand for blocking open sites.

Some limitations in physical characterization of polymeric micelles are:

§ Amphiphilic materials with self-assembly limit the use of many standard procedures in molecular weight distribution experiment.

§ They are mostly soluble in organic, aqueous as well as intermediate solvents leading to fractionation issues.

§ As non-particulate materials they are difficult to characterize by optical microscopy or by SEM, TEM, and AFM.

Structure and function of nanoviricides

NanoViricides are polymeric micelles, which bind to multiple virus-surface-receptors as antiviral agents. They are different from any of the other micellar nanotechnologies as there are no metal particles attached and the micelles can penetrate the virus and bind to multiple sites for effective destruction of the virus.

Mechanism of action of NanoViricides

For a virus to infect a cell, it needs to bind to more than one site. For example, binding of HIV only to CD4 on T cells is insufficient to cause sustained disease; it needs HIV binding to at least two and possibly three different sites on the T cell and that too, at multiple points. For an antiviral to be effective, it should match the strategy to bind to more than one site on the virus. Ideally it should block all of these to prevent virus from infecting the cell and multiplying. Most of the current antiviral drugs have a single mechanism of action and block a single receptor. Drug combinations from different categories are required to increase the number of receptors blocked. Still this is not fully effective.

In contrast to other approaches, a NanoViricide™ micelle can recognize and bind to more than one type of binding site on the virus. The NanoViricide™ system enables design of a drug that binds to more than one type of site - currently as many as three different sites, on the virus - for a highly effective attack. NanoViricides Inc terms this as "multi-specific targeting".

A NanoViricide™ drug goes much further than just blocking all of the binding sites of the virus. The base material of a NanoViricide™ is a specially designed polymeric micelle material. It has the ability to disassemble an HIV particle by itself. Thus, after coating the virus particle, the NanoViricide™ loosens the virus particle, and weakens it. Some virus particles will even fall apart (uncoat). This provides a further therapeutic benefit.

NanoViricides plans to enhance the viral disassembly capabilities of the NanoViricides™ by attaching specially designed "molecular chisels" to the NanoViricide™. Once the NanoViricide™ micelles coat the virus particle, the attached "molecular chisels" will go to work. They literally insert themselves into the virus coat at specific vulnerable points and pry apart the coat proteins so that the virus particle falls apart readily. The mechanism of action of NanoViricide is depicted schematically in Figure 4-1.

This description is a simplification. There is no fully adequate explanation of the observed efficacy because the mechanisms of action of nanomaterials as drugs and particularly, NanoViricides in vivo, are multiple and somewhat complex. Targets for this approach include influenzas, HIV, HCV, rabies and other viruses.

Figure 4-1: Schematic representation of NanoViricide attacking a virus particle

A: NanoViricide micelles attach to the virus at multiple points with nanovelcro
effect and start engulfing the virus.
B. Flexible micelle coats and engulfs the virus particle, dismantles and
neutralizes it, and fuses with viral lipid coat.
Reproduced by permission of NanoViricides Inc

Advantages of NanoViricides

NanoViricides have been compared to current approaches to viral diseases, which are seldom curative and some of the advantages include the following:

§ Specific targeting of the virus with no metabolic adverse effects on the host.

§ The biological efficacy of NanoViricides drugs may be several orders of magnitude
better than that of usual chemical drugs. This in itself may limit the potential for
mutant generation.

§ There are also other key aspects of the design of NanoViricides that are expected to lead to minimizing mutant generation.

§ Nanoviricides are safe because of their unique design and the fact that they are designed to be biodegradable within the body.

§ The new technology enables rapid drug development against an emerging virus, which would be important for global biosecurity against natural as well as man-made (bioterrorism) situations. It is possible to develop a research drug against a novel life-threatening viral disease within 3-6 weeks after the infection is found, i.e. as soon as an antibody from any animal source is available.

§ It is possible to make a single NanoViricide drug that responds to a large number of viral threats by using targeting ligands against the desired set of viruses in the construction of the drug. It is possible to “tune” the specificity and range (spectrum) of a NanoViricide drug within a virus type, subtype, or strain, by appropriate choices of the targeting ligand(s).

§ The safety of NanoViricide drugs is proven now as they specifically attack the virus and not the host.

§ A variety of formulations, release profiles and routes of administration are possible.

§ Low cost of drug development, manufacture, distribution.

NanoViricide drug candidates are currently in preclinical studies. Clinical trials are planned. Initially injectable products are considered to be most effective but alternative routes of administrations such as nasal sprays and bronchial aerosols can also be developed. Various Nanoviricide products will be described further along with relevant viral diseases.

Advantages of Nanoviricides over vaccines are:

§ Nanoviricides work where vaccines fail and are effective even when the immune
system is impaired such as in AIDS.

§ Nanoviricides work where effective vaccines are unavailable

§ Sufficient short term protection for an individual outbreak cluster-

§ Treatment can be started after infection

§ No need to vaccinate whole world population for control of a viral epidemic

Advantages of Nanoviricides over immunoglobulin therapies are:

§ Fully chemical, room-temperature stable NanoViricides can be made against many diseases

§ Nanoviricides based on antibody fragment conjugates do not require humanized
antibodies. Antibodies from virtually any source can be used for developing
NanoViricides, thus significantly reducing time and cost of development.

Immunoglobulin therapies require the patient's immune system (complement system) to function well, which is often not the case in advanced disease states. NanoViricides function completely independently of the human immune system while accomplishing the same goal of reduction in viremia.

Source

NanoViricides Incorporated

Kanzius device burns off salt to purify water

Tue May 13, 2008

By Heather Warlick
Staff Writer

Besides the hope it holds for cancer treatment, John Kanzius' machine has other interesting functions. Penn State researchers have been exposing saltwater to radio frequencies.

"One of the fellows in the lab in Erie called and told me he'd seen a flash in the test tube; it looked like the saltwater made a flame,” Kanzius said. When he performed experiments on saltwater, Kanzius found the saltwater burned when he heated it with radio waves. He was able to keep saltwater burning like a candle.

Subsequent testing showed that subjecting saltwater to radio frequencies changes the molecular structure of water. The salt burns away, leaving fresh water behind.

"If the byproduct of burning saltwater is free desalinized water, that's a pretty nice byproduct to have,” Kanzius said. A scientific article was published in Materials Research Innovations this year that confirms the molecular change in saltwater when exposed to polarized radiofrequency radiation at 13.56 MHz.

Kanzius said independent researchers measured the flame's temperature at above 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which indicates an enormous energy output.

Penn State University chemist Rustum Roy said the question of saltwater's potential lies largely in its energy efficiency. Kanzius said he has powered a hot-air engine with saltwater, but whether the system can power a car or be used as fuel is not known.

Source

Applied Nanotech, Inc. - SBIR & STTR Grants

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROGRAM

AND

SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAM

PHASE I GRANT APPLICATIONS SELECTED FOR FY 2008 AWARDS BY TOPIC

TOPIC: ADVANCED COAL RESEARCH

STTR Project

Applied Nanotech, Inc. Advanced Coal Research, New CO2 Monitoring Devices

3006 Longhorn Boulevard

Suite 107

Austin, TX 78758-7631

Scientists have proposed reducing greenhouse gas by injecting carbon dioxide (CO₂) into geologic subsurface structures. Sophisticated monitoring tools are essential to track CO₂ in the geologic structures and assure safe retention. This project will develop and field test an improved CO₂ sensor.

TOPIC: SOLAR ENERGY

Applied Nanotech, Inc. Solar Energy, Materials Solutions for Cells and Modules

3006 Longhorn Boulevard

Suite 107

Austin, TX 78758-7631

This project will develop metal nanoparticle inks and processes for printing photovoltaic cells, thus lowering the costs of fabrication while maintaining or improving cell performance over conventional techniques.

Source

Super Battery

Video

image: The NewsMarket

(movie will open in a separate window)

Ever wish you could charge your cellphone or laptop in a few seconds rather than hours? As this ScienCentral News video explains, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing a battery that could do just that, and also might never need to be replaced.

The Past is Future

As our portable devices get more high-tech, the batteries that power them can seem to lag behind. But Joel Schindall and his team at M.I.T. plan to make long charge times and expensive replacements a thing of the past--by improving on technology from the past.

They turned to the capacitor, which was invented nearly 300 years ago. Schindall explains, "We made the connection that perhaps we could take an old product, a capacitor, and use a new technology, nanotechnology, to make that old product in a new way."

Rechargable and disposable batteries use a chemical reaction to produce energy. "That's an effective way to store a large amount of energy," he says, "but the problem is that after many charges and discharges ... the battery loses capacity to the point where the user has to discard it."

"It could be recharged many, many times perhaps hundreds of thousands of times, and ... it could be recharged very quickly, just in a matter of seconds rather than a matter of hours," he says.

This technology has broad practical possibilities, affecting any device that requires a battery. Schindall says, "Small devices such as hearing aids that could be more quickly recharged where the batteries wouldn't wear out; up to larger devices such as automobiles where you could regeneratively re-use the energy of motion and therefore improve the energy efficiency and fuel economy."

Schindall thinks hybrid cars would be a particularly popular application for these batteries, especially because current hybrid batteries are expensive to replace.

Nanotube filaments on the battery's electrodes
image: MIT/Riccardo Signorelli

Schindall also sees the ecological benefit to these reinvented capacitors. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 3 billion industrial and household batteries were sold in the United States in 1998. When these batteries are disposed, toxic chemicals like cadmium can seep into the ground.

"It's better for the environment, because it allows the user to not worry about replacing his battery," he says. "It can be discharged and charged hundreds of thousands of times, essentially lasting longer than the life of the equipment with which it is associated."

Schindall and his team aren't the only ones looking back to capacitors as the future of batteries; a research group in England recently announced advances of their own. But Schindall's groups expects their prototype to be finished in the next few months, and they hope to see them on the market in less than five years.

Schindall's research was featured in the May 2006 edition of Discover Magazine and presented at the 15th International Seminar on Double Layer Capacitors and Hybrid Energy Storage Devices in Deerfield Beach, Florida on December 2005. His research is funded by the Ford-MIT Consortium.

Source

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Polynano carbon nanotube field emission device

Polynano Glass---( Nano Moving Display Glass )

Polynano carbon nanotube field emission device (CNT-FED) features perfect flat outer screen surface, flat rear screen, very thin thickness, high beam current output of carbon Nanotube emission cathode, circle phosphor dot screen anode, monochrome output, see-through type , wide-environmental operation application. Monochrome display and image interface application.

Snipped from here:
http://www.glassonweb.com/articles/artic...

Finally something to generate some royalty revenue for Keesmann and ANHI (Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc.)=(Nano-Proprietary - NNPP)!

Long time coming but welcomed with open arms and pocketbooks.

Ya think? ;-) Surely Bijou is all over this like a hawk in heat.

OTOH.............???????

Just in case NOT here are the company particulars:
Polytron Technologies, Inc.
http://www.polytron.com.tw/company.php?l...

Polytron Technologies Inc. is a subsidiary of Polytronix, Inc.:
http://www.polytronix.com/
http://www.polytron.com.tw/
http://www.polytron.com.tw/product_small...
Polytron Technologies, Inc.
330 No.67, Taode Road., Taoyuan City, 330, Taiwan
Tel：+886-3-3712958 FAX：+886-3-3712968
sam@polytron.com.tw

POLYTRONIX INC.

Contact Information

805 Alpha Drive
Richardson, Texas 75081-2861

Toll Free: 1-800-904-7045
Phone: 972-238-7045
Fax: 972-644-0805

For technical and engineering questions,
contact: engineering@polytronix.com

For product information and availability,
contact: sales@polytronix.com

POLYTRONIX INC. URL:

http://www.polytronix.com/contacts.htm

TEXAS, eh!!!!

Howdy, pardner.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Cheap nano power set to light up rural homes

SASWATI MUKHERJEE

Hybrid solar modules: Way to the future

Jamshedpur, May 9: Electrification of homes in rural areas would no more be a distant dream.

Jamshedpur-based Ekta Telecommunication and Systems is working on incorporating nanotechnology in the development of solar modules to provide electricity to all at an affordable rate.

The advanced technology can be a boon for rural and urban homes. Increase in efficiency is another benefit of the technology.

The technology, based on the use of a combination of solar cells to build a module and eventually a solar cell, would be developed with the use of thin polymer sheets. Electricity would be generated by placing the thin sheet on the rooftop and drawing solar the power for lighting up the entire house.

“Solar electricity is the only answer to the power crisis in contemporary times. The adoption of nanotechnology would ensure that we can provide electricity to people at prices lower than what the commercial power providers charge,” said Niraj Kumar Mishra, the chairman and managing director of Ekta Telecommunication and Systems.

The company is also working on making the modules available at affordable prices. Ekta is also focussing on increasing the efficiency of the modules.

The cost of the modules would decrease to Rs 5 from the existing Rs 150 to Rs 250 per watt, said officials. The efficiency of the solar modules would go up to an average of 50 per cent from the present rate of 14 per cent.

“Nanotechnology would be used in the preparation of solar cell sheets to generate cost-effective electricity. The sheets would be around 0.6mm, which would also mean a wide use of the technology,” said Mishra.

After developing the technology at their own laboratory in the Adityapur industrial area, talks have been finalised with a US-based company for importing the granules for the formation of the modules. A speciality laboratory is required for the development of the technology. The facility would be constructed at an estimated investment of Rs 25 to 30 crore.

“We have written to the ministry of science and technology to provide us with the financial assistance to develop a state-of-the-art laboratory. If we get help, it would be the first such laboratory in the country,” added Mishra.

The durability of the sheets would prove to be a major added advantage. The average durability of each solar sheet would be around 30 years. Being weather-resistant, the solar sheets are bound to get popular in future.

Having completed almost 75 per cent of the project, the firm hopes to design a prototype by 2011. Mishra said he is close to realising his dream of generating and distributing electricity from solar energy to be used by all at affordable charges soon. He is the recipient of the President’s Award and two Jharkhand Udyog Ratnas.

Source

Friday, May 9, 2008

Nanochemistry inside carbon nanotubes

Posted: May 9, 2008

(Nanowerk Spotlight) As far as test tubes go, it doesn't get any smaller than a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT). Among the wide range of interesting properties exhibited by SWCNTs is their capacity to encapsulate molecules within their quasi one-dimensional cavity. The confinement offered by the nanotube could serve as a nanoscale test tube to constrain a chemical reaction. This was demonstrated in principle back in 1998, when the coalescence of adjacent fullerenes was observed by transmission electron microscopy ("Encapsulated C60 in carbon nanotubes"). In the following years, scientists have extensively experimented with filling nanotubes with other fullerenes, atoms, molecules and, very recently, with organic molecules. Owing to their large variety with diverse chemical properties, the incorporated organic molecules can tune the properties of the SWCNTs.

Scientists are intrigued by the possibilities that SWCNTs' use as a reaction tube offers for chemistry at the nanoscale. Nanochemistry – a key to control self-assembly processes prerequisite for nanotechnology – in essence would produce stable chemical reactions inside a confined nanoscale space (it doesn't have to be a nanotube). Encapsulated inside this nanoscale space, molecules are isolated from the outside environment, which allows one to identify and control the source and incidence of chemical reactions. Recent work has demonstrated this new chemistry by using SWCNTs as a nanometer-scale reaction furnace.

"It has been known that single-walled carbon nanotubes encapsulating buckyball fullerenes can be transformed into double walled carbon nanotubes" Dr. Hidetsugu Shiozawa tells Nanowerk. "In this case, the coalescence of adjacent fullerenes triggered by Stone-Wales transformations is the accepted mechanism for the inner shell tube growth. In our recent work we demonstrated that encapsulated ferrocene molecules can also be a precursor to grow inner shell tubes. Our finding is that the encapsulated ferrocene acts in a multi role as a carbon source and a catalyst, lowering the reaction temperature of the nanotube growth down to 600°C, and as a tracking agent for the chemical reaction within the tubes."

Shiozawa, a researcher at the Advanced Technology Institute at the University of Surrey in the UK, continues by describing that, from a detailed microscopic and spectroscopic study, he and his collaborators unveiled – for the first time – that the decomposing ferrocene molecules form iron carbide nanocrystals which dissolve carbon atoms from one side and generate a carbon nanotube to the other side.

Schematic diagram for the inner tube growth process.
I) FeCp₂-filled SWCNTs.
II) Catalytic reaction for the inner-tube growth after decomposition of FeCp₂. The iron carbide nanocrystal acting as a reactor absorbing carbon atoms from one side and generating a nanotube to another side.
III) Precipitation of iron atoms onto the DWCNT surface and subsequent oxidation and aggregation into a nanoparticle. (Reprinted with permission from Wiley-VCH Verlag)

"Such details of chemical reactions are usually hindered by a massive reaction volume required in ordinary chemistry" he says. "It means our work elucidates the feasibility and merit of nanochemistry."

Shiozawa is first author of a paper published online on March 28, 2008 in Advanced Materials ("A Catalytic Reaction Inside a Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube") that is the result of an international collaboration of scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) Dresden in Germany, the University of Vienna in Austria, and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan.

The research team found that filling a carbon nanotube leads to electron doping of the tube. Furthermore, in separate work, Shiozawa has demonstrated that the chemical reaction of filled ferrocene induces a dynamic electron or hole doping of the outer tube (these findings have been published online on April 2, 2008 in Physical Review B – " Fine tuning the charge transfer in carbon nanotubes via the interconversion of encapsulated molecules").

These results illustrate the applicability of this confined chemical reaction in functionalizing the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes. By choosing a proper type of filling materials, switching the electronic and optical properties of carbon nanotubes may be possible.

Shiozawa also notes that the catalytic process at the nanoscale leads to the growth of iron oxide nanoparticles on the carbon nanotubes. "Expected diverse magnetic properties of such nanoparticles may render a range of new biomedical and diagnostic applications" he says. "Since carbon nanotubes represent a new class of molecular transporters potentially useful for future drug delivery, our ultimate product, i.e., iron oxide nanoparticles supported by carbon nanotubes, can be an ideal composite for proving the concepts of biomedical functionality and activity of such nanosystem."

With the demonstration that nanochemistry is possible within the inner space of carbon nanotubes, this new approach can potentially be applied to all kinds of chemistry by choosing reasonable combinations of guest materials and host nanostructures. Shiozawa believes this will trigger a transition of ordinary chemistry into nanochemistry where the designed nanospace induces novel chemical reactions.

"Given a large variety of organometallic precursors with transition metal and rare-earth metal atoms, our process will advance the development of a diverse assembly of atoms, molecules, nanocrystals and carbon nanotubes. Such nanocomposites will provide a model base for exploring exotic quantum physical phenomena, which advances our understanding of solid-state physics."

By Michael Berger. Copyright 2008 Nanowerk LLC

Source

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Virus Mimics Human Protein To Hijack Cell Division Machinery

ScienceDaily (May 8, 2008) — Viruses are masters of deception, duping their host's cells into helping them grow and spread. A new study has found that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can mimic a common regulatory protein to hijack normal cell growth machinery, disrupting a cell's primary anti-cancer mechanism.

Writing in the May 9 issue of Science, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard Medical School report that a viral protein, called UL97, masquerades as a normal regulatory enzyme to modify a tumor-suppressing protein in human cells. Unlike the normal enzyme, which can be switched on and off by the cell as needed, the viral stand-in lacks an off switch and evades cellular control. The findings represent a previously unknown way that viruses can cause uncontrolled cell growth and division.

Cells normally have tight regulatory mechanisms in place to limit multiplication to appropriate situations, such as replacing worn-out cells or repairing damage. Uncontrolled cell proliferation can lead to cancer and other disorders.

One of the most important cellular control mechanisms works through a protein called the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein, which slows cell growth.

"The retinoblastoma pathway is like the brakes on a car. It prevents tumor cells from growing out of control," says Robert Kalejta, an assistant professor in the UW-Madison Institute for Molecular Virology and McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, who led the new study. "This pathway is mutated in essentially all human cancers."

Disrupting this pathway is also advantageous for viruses. Unable to reproduce on their own, viruses rely on co-opting their host's cellular machinery, like an occupying army taking over a local factory. They are especially good at overriding or bypassing built-in control mechanisms, Kalejta says.

"Viruses are well known to encode proteins that have similar activities to cellular proteins, but they're just different enough that they're beneficial to the virus," he says. "[UL97] shares the same activities as the cellular protein, but it lacks all of the control mechanisms."

In essence, UL97 disables the brakes and hits the gas. Once a host cell is primed toward growth, HCMV takes over and steals the cell's machinery to reproduce itself.

The virus's bloodhound-like ability to seek out and target the most essential pieces of a cell's machinery makes it a valuable research tool, Kalejta says.

"Viruses are smarter than we are. They know a lot more about cells than we do, because their life depends on it - they're obligate intracellular parasites," he says. "If they attack a part of the cell - a process or a protein - you know it's important for the cell. If the virus pays attention to it, you should too."

Kalejta next hopes to use UL97 to find other proteins that may be important for cell growth. He also sees potential clinical applications down the road. HCMV infection is very common and, though it remains asymptomatic in most people, it has been implicated in some cancers and can cause trouble in people with compromised or suppressed immune systems, such as AIDS patients and transplant recipients. In addition, UL97-like proteins are also found in the other seven human herpes viruses, some of which are directly linked to cancers.

The advantages of the research are two-fold, Kalejta says. "We're studying a virus that causes human disease and might eventually find a way to treat that infection and help patients. At the same time, we're learning about how the cell works, which has implications for patients that don't have infections," he says. "You get two for the price of one."

Other authors on the paper include Adam Hume, Jonathan Finkel, and Michael Culbertson from UW-Madison and Jeremy Kamil and Donald Coen from Harvard Medical School. The work was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Wisconsin Partnership for a Healthy Future, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the American Heart Association.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:

APA

MLA

University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008, May 8). Virus Mimics Human Protein To Hijack Cell Division Machinery. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508143310.htm

Source

Flu virus research earns NRC honour

Student wins top science prize

Flu virus research earns NRC honour

Chris Maclean, The Ottawa Citizen

Published: Thursday, May 08, 2008

A 17-year-old Ottawa student has won a national science competition with research into diagnosing and possibly preventing the influenza virus.

Maria Merziotis, a Grade 12 student at Hillcrest High School, took the top prize, worth $5,000, at the 2008 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge, announced yesterday at National Research Council headquarters. She also won a $1,000 prize for having the project with the most commercial potential.

"I just wanted to create something that would touch on an issue that affects a lot of people," Ms. Merziotis said after the ceremony.

17-year-old Maria Merziotis won a national science competition yesterday for her study that demonstrated the potential of a new way to diagnose, and perhaps prevent, influenza.

Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen

This is not your typical science fair. Students in the competition are assigned a mentor in their community who provides advice and access to equipment and supplies. The students submit research proposals for evaluation by a scientific committee and the results are judged by fellow students and representatives of government, business and academia.

Ms. Merziotis says she worked on her project three days a week for a year. Michel Gilbert of the National Research Council's Institute of Biological Sciences was her mentor on the project, which was dubbed
"Tricking the Influenza virus."

Ms. Merziotis designed a receptor (a form of salic[[sic sialic see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sialic_acid]]- acid) for the flu virus that would bind the virus, preventing it from attaching to human cells. The receptor is also able to determine to which strain of the virus it was attached.

"The influenza threat is very serious and it's very important that research like this, on preventing and monitoring it, continues to happen. That's why we chose this topic," said Mr. Gilbert.

The students in the BioTalent Challenge "represent some of the finest young scientists across Canada," said Roman Szumski, vice-president of life sciences at the National Research Council, which hosted the competition results announcement yesterday.

Ms. Merziotis' research has been sent to Health Canada, which has said her application has "encouraging results." Health Canada plans to continue to test her receptor to see how effective it is at preventing and identifying different strains of the influenza virus.

As for Ms. Merziotis?

"I would like to continue studying science, maybe go into medical school or research," she said.

"Curiosity is what binds all scientists, and I love trying to find answers, so, hopefully, I'll continue doing that."

As for the money, Ms. Merziotis says she plans to save it for university.

Ms. Merziotis and the second-place team, a trio of students from the University of Toronto School, will represent Canada at the international BioGENEius Challenge in San Diego, California, from June 16-18.

Source

Compare to NanoViricides - NNVC - and their work on viruses and sialic acid along with targeting moieties!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Nanotube production leaps from sooty mess in test tube to ready formed chemical microsensors

Carbon nanotubes’ potential as a super material is blighted by the fact that when first made they often take the form of an unprepossessing pile of sooty black mess in the bottom of a test tube. Now researchers in the University of Warwick’s Department of Chemistry have found a way of producing carbon nanotubes in which they instantly form a highly sensitive ready made electric circuit.

The research has just been published in a paper entitled "Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Network Ultramicroelectrodes" by University of Warwick researchers Ioana Dumitrescu, Professor Julie Macpherson, Professor Patrick Unwin, and Neil Wilson in Analytical Chemistry, 2008, 10.1021/ac702518g

The researchers used a form of chemical vapour deposition and lithography to create the ready made disc shaped single walled carbon nanotube based ultramicroelectrodes. The nanotubes deposit themselves flat on a surface in a random but relatively even manner. They also all overlap sufficiently to create a single complete metallic micro-circuit right across the final disc. What is even more impressive is that they take up less than one per cent of the surface area of the disc.

This final property makes these instant ultramicroelecrodes particular useful for the creation of ultra sensitive sensors. The low surface area of the conducting part of the disc means that they can be used to screen out background "noise" and cope with low signal to noise ratios making them up to 1000 times more sensitive than conventional ultramicroelecrodes sensors. This property also produces very fast response times allowing them to respond ten times faster than conventional ultramicroelecrodes.

As these ready made ultramicroelecrodes are carbon based they also open up a range of new possibilities for use in living systems. The biocompatibility of carbon is in stark contrast with the obvious problems that platinum and other metal based probes can pose for living tissue. The Warwick research team are already beginning to explore how their single walled carbon nanotube based ultramicroelecrodes can be used to measure levels of neurotransmitters.

The new ultramicroelecrodes also open up interesting possibilities for catalysis in fuel cells. Up till now researchers had been aware that this form of carbon nanotubes appeared to be particularly useful in the area of catalysis but there was uncertainty as to whether it was the properties of the carbon nanotubes per se that provide this benefit or whether it was due to impurities in their production. The researchers have been able to use this new method of single walled carbon nanotube assembly to prove that it is actually the properties of the carbon nanotubes themselves that are useful for catalysis. The new carbon nanotube assembly technique brings a further benefit to catalysis applications as the Warwick researchers have been able to use electrodepoistion to quickly and easily apply specific metal coatings to the ready formed single walled carbon nanotube microelectrode networks. This will be of significant benefit to anyone wanting to use single walled carbon nanotube for catalysis in fuel cell technology.

For further information please contact:

Professor Julie Macpherson, Department of Chemistry
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0)2476 573886 J.Macpherson@warwick.ac.uk

Professor Patrick Unwin: Department of Chemistry
University of Warwick, +44 (0) 2476 523264
P.R.Unwin@warwick.ac.uk

Peter Dunn, Press and Media Relations Manager,
University of Warwick Tel: +44 (0)24 76 523708
or +44 (0)7767 655860 p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR35 6th May 2008

Source

DuPont and Dainippon Alliance to Focus on Reducing OLEDs Production Costs

WILMINGTON, Del. and KYOTO, Japan, May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DuPont and Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd., today announced their intention to form a strategic alliance to develop integrated manufacturing equipment for printed organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays. The companies also have signed an agreement relating to their intention to bring together the elements needed -- materials, technology and equipment -- to mass produce OLED displays, delivering higher performance at a lower cost.

OLEDs are displays in which pixels are created using thin films made of emissive organic materials. Compared with liquid crystal displays (LCDs), OLEDs can have much higher contrast ratios, lower power consumption (because pixels draw power only when they are in use), faster response time, and eliminate the need for the backlight and color filter. Small-size active matrix OLED displays have recently become available from several manufacturers, but the current high-cost of manufacturing limits market adoption, and constrains OLED manufacturing for large size displays.

"The flat panel display market is about $100 billion annually and growing. DuPont is applying its science to make possible more vivid displays that are lower cost than current LCD displays," said David B. Miller, group vice president, DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies. "We are excited to combine our strengths with Dainippon Screen's unique printing technology to bring to market the core technology that will enable improved high definition televisions and other flat panel displays."

The companies are developing integrated coating and printing equipment for the fabrication of OLED displays from solution, an approach which is unique in the industry and can significantly reduce manufacturing costs for OLED displays. DuPont brings to the alliance its distinctive small molecule-based OLED solution materials and proprietary process technology from which excellent performance has been obtained in testing. Dainippon Screen has developed a unique printing technology, called nozzle printing, in which the OLED materials can be printed accurately at very high speed. The goal of the alliance is to develop integrated OLED printing and coating equipment that will significantly reduce the production costs of flat panel displays, with the aim of extending OLED technology to large size displays and making them cost-competitive with LCDs.

The companies have been working together over the past three years to jointly develop nozzle printers as an efficient method for printing OLED displays from solution. The first production scale printer is currently being constructed.

"We were interested in extending our deep LCD equipment experience into the OLED marketplace and we felt that DuPont had developed a much needed, viable approach to OLED materials and technology that could expedite the commercialization of cost-effective OLED manufacturing," said Yoshinari Yaoi, corporate senior executive officer and president, FPD Equipment Company, Dainippon Screen. "We believe that this alliance could be the key for manufacturers to be able to produce affordable, high-quality larger sized OLEDs using our unique nozzle printer technology."

Dainippon Screen, established in 1943, is a leading supplier of flat panel display and semiconductor equipment. Screen is currently involved in manufacturing production equipment in a variety of fields, including FPDs, semiconductors, printed circuit boards, and printing and prepress equipment such as thermal CtP recorders and on-demand printing systems. For more information, please visit: http://www.screen.co.jp/.[English site:http://www.screen.co.jp/index.html]

DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation. For more information, please visit: http://www.dupont.com/.

Photo: OLEDs With DuPont and Dainippon Technology -- http://www2.dupont.com/Media_Center/en_US/assets/mmg/images/DuPont_OLED_Display.jpg

Caption: 4.3" diagonal full-color OLED made with DuPont materials and Dainippon equipment

DuPont

Source

Researchers Target Tumors With Tiny 'Nanoworms'

ScienceDaily (May 7, 2008) — Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized “nanoworms” that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body’s immune defense system and—like tiny anti-cancer missiles—home in on tumors.

Their discovery, detailed in this week’s issue of the journal Advanced Materials, is reminiscent of the 1966 science fiction movie, the Fantastic Voyage, in which a submarine is shrunken to microscopic dimensions, then injected into the bloodstream to remove a blood clot from a diplomat’s brain.

Using nanoworms, doctors should eventually be able to target and reveal the location of developing tumors that are too small to detect by conventional methods. Carrying payloads targeted to specific features on tumors, these microscopic vehicles could also one day provide the means to more effectively deliver toxic anti-cancer drugs to these tumors in high concentrations without negatively impacting other parts of the body.

“Most nanoparticles are recognized by the body's protective mechanisms, which capture and remove them from the bloodstream within a few minutes,” said Michael Sailor, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego who headed the research team. “The reason these worms work so well is due to a combination of their shape and to a polymer coating on their surfaces that allows the nanoworms to evade these natural elimination processes. As a result, our nanoworms can circulate in the body of a mouse for many hours.”

“When attached to drugs, these nanoworms could offer physicians the ability to increase the efficacy of drugs by allowing them to deliver them directly to the tumors,” said Sangeeta Bhatia, a physician, bioengineer and a professor of Health Sciences and Technology at MIT who was part of the team. “They could decrease the side effects of toxic anti-cancer drugs by limiting their exposure of normal tissues and provide a better diagnosis of tumors and abnormal lymph nodes.”

The scientists constructed their nanoworms from spherical iron oxide nanoparticles that join together, like segments of an earthworm, to produce tiny gummy worm-like structures about 30 nanometers long—or about 3 million times smaller than an earthworm. Their iron-oxide composition allows the nanoworms to show up brightly in diagnostic devices, specifically the MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, machines that are used to find tumors.

“The iron oxide used in the nanoworms has a property of superparamagnetism, which makes them show up very brightly in MRI,” said Sailor. “The magnetism of the individual iron oxide segments, typically eight per nanoworm, combine to provide a much larger signal than can be observed if the segments are separated. This translates to a better ability to see smaller tumors, hopefully enabling physicians to make their diagnosis of cancer at earlier stages of development.”

In addition to the polymer coating, which is derived from the biopolymer dextran, the scientists coated their nanoworms with a tumor-specific targeting molecule, a peptide called F3, developed in the laboratory of Erkki Ruoslahti, a cell biologist and professor at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara. This peptide allows the nanoworms to target and home in on tumors.

“Because of its elongated shape, the nanoworm can carry many F3 molecules that can simultaneously bind to the tumor surface,” said Sailor. “And this cooperative effect significantly improves the ability of the nanoworm to attach to a tumor.”

The scientists were able to verify in their experiments that their nanoworms homed in on tumor sites by injecting them into the bloodstream of mice with tumors and following the aggregation of the nanoworms on the tumors. They found that the nanoworms, unlike the spherical nanoparticles of similar size that were shuttled out of the blood by the immune system, remained in the bloodstream for hours.

“This is an important property because the longer these nanoworms can stay in the bloodstream, the more chances they have to hit their targets, the tumors,” said Ji-Ho Park, a UC San Diego graduate student in materials science and engineering working in Sailor’s laboratory.

Park was the motivating force behind the discovery when he found by accident that the gummy worm aggregates of nanoparticles stayed for hours in the bloodstream despite their relatively large size.

While it’s not clear yet to the researchers why, Park notes that “the nanoworm’s flexibly moving, one dimensional structure may be one the reasons for its long life in the bloodstream.”

The researchers are now working on developing ways to attach drugs to the nanoworms and chemically treating their exteriors with specific chemical “zip codes,” that will allow them to be delivered to specific tumors, organs and other sites in the body.

“We are now using nanoworms to construct the next generation of smart tumor-targeting nanodevices,” said Ruoslahti. We hope that these devices will improve the diagnostic imaging of cancer and allow pinpoint targeting of treatments into cancerous tumors.”

Other researchers involved in the development were Michael Schwartz of UC San Diego, Geoffrey von Maltzahn of MIT, and Lianglin Zhang of UC Santa Barbara. The project was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Adapted from materials provided by University of California, San Diego. Original article written by Kim McDonald.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The high contrast ratio and fast response time of a liquid crystal display lit by a carbon nanotube field emission backlight unit

Young Chul Choi et al 2008 Nanotechnology 19 235306 (5pp) doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/19/23/235306

PDF (943 KB) | References

Young Chul Choi, Ji Won Lee, Su Kyung Lee, Mun Seok Kang, Chang Soo Lee, Kyu Won Jung, Ji Hong Lim, Jong Woon Moon, Myung Ick Hwang, Il Hwan Kim, Yun Hee Kim, Byong Gon Lee, Hyung Rae Seon, Sang Jin Lee, Jong Hwan Park, Yong C Kim and Hun Soo Kim
Display Laboratory 3 Group, Corporate R&D Center, Samsung SDI, 428-5, Gongse-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi 446-577, Republic of Korea
E-mail: hs88.kim@samsung.com

Abstract. We report on the fabrication of a carbon nanotube field emission backlight unit (CNT-BLU) and its application for liquid crystal displays (LCD). The CNT-BLU was operated with locally controllable luminance and impulse-type scanning. The local luminance control, which is based on a very small block size of 1 cm², consisted of local dimming and local brightening. This resulted in the contrast ratio of the LCD-TV to be as high as 300 000:1. A fast response time of ~5.7 ms was also achieved from the LCD-TV lit by CNT-BLU, originating from the impulse-type scanning. In addition, the CNT-BLU showed long-term emission stability and high luminance uniformity.

Print publication: Issue 23 (11 June 2008)
Received 7 March 2008, in final form 10 April 2008
Published 6 May 2008

Source

Conclusion - from PDF:

4. Conclusion
We have developed an FE-BLU using a CNT emitter (CNTBLU), and then analyzed its field emission characteristics including emission current, stability and uniformity. Well distributed CNTs were precisely integrated into gate holes through simple photolithography and a surface treatment process. The CNT-BLU generated high emission current with long-term stability and the observed emission uniformity was high enough to be used for an LCD-TV. The image characteristics of an LCD-TV lit by the CNT-BLU were evaluated and compared with those by a CCFL. Compared with a CCFL backlight, at least 200 times enhanced contrast ratios and three times improved response times were demonstrated by using the CNT-BLU. These were achieved by fine local luminance control and impulse-type scanning, respectively. Achieving these technologies using CNT emitters is believed to be very promising for the next-generation LCDs with excellent image characteristics.

Revving Up The World's Fastest Nanomotors

Green lines show results of "racing," where images a, b, c, and d represent the tracks left by various types of speeding nanomotors. The winner is "c," a "catalytic nanomotor" composed of gold and platinum nanowires supercharged with carbon nanotubes. Credit: Courtesy of the American Chemical Society.

by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) May 05, 2008

In a "major step" toward a practical energy source for powering tomorrow's nanomachines, researchers in Arizona report development of a new generation of sub-microscopic nanomotors that are up to 10 times more powerful than existing motors. Their study is scheduled for the May 27 issue of ACS Nano, a monthly journal.

In the new study, Joseph Wang and colleagues point out that existing nanomotors, including so-called "catalytic nanomotors," are made with gold and platinum nanowires and use hydrogen peroxide fuel for self-propulsion. But these motors are too slow and inefficient for practical use, with top speeds of about 10 micrometers per second, the researchers say. One micrometer is about 1/25,000 of an inch or almost 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Wang and colleagues supercharged their nanomotors by inserting carbon nanotubes into the platinum, thus boosting average speed to 60 micrometers per second. Spiking the hydrogen peroxide fuel with hydrazine (a type of rocket fuel) kicked up the speed still further, to 94- 200 micrometers per second. This innovation "offers great promise for self-powered nanoscale transport and delivery systems," the scientists state.

Source

Nanoviricides, Inc. (OTC: NNVC), B+ rating and 9-month price target of $3.00 per share

Ludlow BioVentures Member of the Ludlow Biotech Stock Index - Click Here	Nanoviricides, Inc. OTC: NNVC	Stock Report Launch May 05, 2008 OTC Symbol: NNVC

Sector:	Biotechnology
Sub-Industry:	viral research
Fully Reporting:	Yes

Summary: The Company is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy.


Price at Research Launch:	$0.69	\|	52-Week Range:	$0.29-$1.25


Prepared by: Ludlow Capital Research

Business Summary

NanoViricides, Inc. is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide(TM) class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H5N1 bird flu, seasonal influenza, HIV, hepatitis C, rabies, dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. www.nanoviricides.com

Quantitative Evaluations

Ludlow Capital Rating: B+

B-

B+

A-

A+

Volatility: High

Low

Average

High

Technical Rating: BULLISH

Relative Stock Strength: 65

1 Lowest

Highest 99

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INVESTMENT OPINION

Ludlow BioVentures Initiates Research Coverage on Nanoviricides, Inc. (NNVC)
Last Updated: May 05, 2008 - 10:18pm EST

NEW YORK--May 05, 2008--Ludlow BioVentures initiates research coverage on Nanoviricides, Inc. (OTC: NNVC), a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy, with a B+ rating and 9-month price target of $3.00 per share.

COVERAGE SUMMARY

NanoViricieds (NNVC) utilize creative and unique nanomaterials for targeting and destroying viruses. The company's nanoviricide(TM) drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them, as opposed to vaccines which work to prevent the delivery of the virus payload. This unique approach makes NNVC a interesting play in the field of viral therapy.

NanoViricides is using this unique viral approach for use and potential destruction of such viral diseases including H5N1 bird flu, seasonal influenza, HIV, hepatitis C, rabies, dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.

Due to the company's recent test results with such diseases as Ebola and HIV, and their different approach to viral therapy, Ludlow BioVentures is initiating research coverage on the company with a B+ rating, and a 9-month price target of $3.00 per share.

For updates on this research opinion, or additional information on the company register online here.

About Ludlow BioVentures, Inc

Based in New York City, Ludlow BioVenture is a venture capital and research advisory firm with a specific focus on the biotechnology sector. The goal of the firm is to promote investments into biotech ventures worldwide. Ludlow BioVentures owns and operates the Ludlow BioVenture Index, which tracks a wide basket of US traded large and small cap biotechnology stocks. www.ludlowcapital.com/bioventures/

------------------------

Contact:

Ludlow BioVentures, Inc.
Thomas J. Latino JD, PhD
Phone: (201)-245-4278
Email: tlatino@ludlowcapital.com

Key Stock Statistics
As of March 31, 2008

12 Month P/E	NA	\|	Yield	NiL
Shs. outstanding	119m		Shareholders	UR
Shs. restricted	UR		Market cap. (M)	$101m
Avg. daily vol. (K)	101k		Inst. holdings	0%

Value of $10,000 invested 1 year ago: UR

Dividend Data

No dividends have been paid on the common stock.

Revenues/Earnings Data Fiscal year ending December 31

Revenues (millions $)
	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003
1Q	UR	UR	UR
2Q	UR	UR	UR
3Q	UR	UR	UR
4Q	--	UR	UR
Yr.	NA

Earnings per Share ($)
	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003
1Q	UR	UR	NA
2Q	UR	UR	NA
3Q	UR	UR	NA
4Q	--	UR	NA
Yr.	UR	UR	UR

Source: Company Press Release, and filings with SEC.

Legend: E-Estimated. NA-Not Available. NM-Not Meaningful. NR-Not Ranked. UR-Under Review.



Office: 135 Wood Street, # 205 West Haven, CT 06516 Telephone: 203-937-6137 Email: info@nanoviricides.com	Chairman: Dr. Anil R. Diwan Ph.D. CFO: Dr. Eugene Seymour MD, MPH Auditor: Website: www.nanoviricide.com	Founded: UR Domicile: CT Employees: 2 Analyst: Thomas Latino, PhD

Source

Monday, May 5, 2008

Anti-HIV NanoViricide Drug Candidate Demonstrates Significant Therapeutic Efficacy in Animal Trials

Positive Initial Results Pave the Way for Definitive Follow-Up Studies

Last update: 7:00 a.m. EDT May 5, 2008

WEST HAVEN, Conn., May 05, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB: NNVC.OB), said that its anti-HIV drug candidates demonstrated significant therapeutic efficacy in the recently completed preliminary animal studies. The studies were performed at a Bio-Safety Level 3 Laboratory (BSL-3) facility in Boston, MA. These mouse model studies were conducted by Dr. Krishna Menon, PhD, VMD, MRCS, a world-renowned authority in preclinical and toxicological studies of innovative therapeutics.

"Dr. Menon has indicated to us that the results of the study validate the Company's HivCide-I as a potential treatment for HIV/AIDS," said Eugene Seymour, MD, MPH, CEO of NanoViricides, adding, "Over the next several weeks, we expect to release additional study data." The Company's scientists are now designing the protocol for a follow up anti-HIV study to be performed at a major United States government research facility.

The Company also said that animal studies for its drug candidates against bird flu (H5N1) are due to be scheduled at a major United States government research facility. The company has previously reported that animal studies against Ebola would be undertaken following the success of in vitro studies. These studies are continuing.

NanoViricides, Inc. is using injectable nanoviricides for its initial HIV studies. Future plans call for the development of a long-acting anti-HIV skin patch. The Company feels that this delivery method will result in markedly improved patient compliance.

About NanoViricides: NanoViricides, Inc. ( www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide(TM) class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H5N1 bird flu, seasonal influenza, HIV, hepatitis C, rabies, dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.

SOURCE: NanoViricides, Inc.

NanoViricides, Inc.
Amanda Schuon, 310-550-7200
info@nanoviricides.com

Source 1

Source 2

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Are Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes More Like Asbestos Than We Thought?

April 17, 2008 | Posted by John Balbus in Carbon Nanotubes, Health, Research, Testing

John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., is Chief Health Scientist.

We and many others have made analogies between nanoparticles and asbestos. The purpose of the analogy has generally been to emphasize the long latency that can occur between exposure to toxic materials and the development and subsequent recognition of disease arising from that exposure. And, of course, the enormous legal and financial burden of failing to adequately consider risks before allowing widespread exposure. But a new study suggests that the analogy may be even stronger than we thought: It may extend to the capacity to cause mesothelioma, the rare form of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Toxicological Sciences, researchers at Japan’s National Institute of Health Sciences injected commercial multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into the peritoneal cavities of mice that were bred to be especially susceptible to mesothelioma. (The peritoneal cavity is the space between the abdominal organs and abdominal wall that is lined with mesothelial cells, which can give rise to mesotheliomas).

They compared the mice’s response to injected MWCNTs to the response to crocidolite asbestos (the form of asbestos most strongly associated with mesothelioma), and also to fullerenes. They found that the potency of MWCNTs in causing mesotheliomas in these mice was at least as high as the asbestos. In contrast, fullerenes did not cause any mesotheliomas.

The physicochemical characteristics of MWCNTs are similar in many ways to asbestos. Both are rigid, rod-like shapes with a high length to width (aspect) ratio and lengths that can extend to 5 microns or longer. Both are biopersistent and contain iron. Given that all of these characteristics collectively contribute to the carcinogenicity of asbestos, this study suggests these same characteristics may cause MWCNTs to be carcinogenic as well.

This study doesn’t prove that inhaling MWCNTs causes mesothelioma; it would first have to be shown that inhaled MWCNTs can make their way through the lung to contact mesothelial cells, and then persist there long enough to initiate carcinogenesis in less susceptible animals. Asbestos does this, of course, and there’s no obvious reason why MWCNTs should behave differently. More pieces of the puzzle need to be filled to demonstrate the actual degree of risk, but this is clearly a large red flag.

Because MWCNTs, unlike asbestos, are deliberately engineered, it’s possible that characteristics like iron content and fiber length may be controlled to render the tubes less or even non-carcinogenic. But with the wide variations noted for single-walled carbon nanotubes (see our earlier post), manufacturers of MWCNTs would have to demonstrate the ability to manufacture product consistently to specifications, and users of MWCNTs would need to be wary of variations from producer to producer. In the meantime, researchers developing and using MWCNTs, especially for applications that could yield long-term exposures, such as incorporation into hip prostheses, need to proceed with extreme caution and carefully assess the potential for carcinogenicity from their devices.

Source

*************************************************************************************

ONLINE	ISSN	:	1880-3989
PRINT	ISSN	:	0388-1350

The Journal of Toxicological Sciences

Vol. 33 (2008) , No. 1 February 105-116

[PDF (25916K)] [References]

Induction of mesothelioma in p53+/− mouse by intraperitoneal application of multi-wall carbon nanotube

Atsuya Takagi¹⁾, Akihiko Hirose²⁾, Tetsuji Nishimura³⁾, Nobutaka Fukumori⁴⁾, Akio Ogata⁴⁾, Norio Ohashi⁴⁾, Satoshi Kitajima¹⁾ and Jun Kanno¹⁾

1) Division of Cellular and Molecular Toxicology, Biological Safety Research Center, National Institute of Health Sciences
2) Division of Risk Assessment, Biological Safety Research Center, National Institute of Health Sciences
3) Division of Environmental Chemistry, National Institute of Health Sciences
4) Department of Environmental Health and Toxicology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health

(Received November 20, 2007)

ABSTRACT- Nanomaterials of carbon origin tend to form various shapes of particles in micrometer dimensions. Among them, multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) form fibrous or rod-shaped particles of length around 10 to 20 micrometers with an aspect ratio of more than three. Fibrous particles of this dimension including asbestos and some man-made fibers are reported to be carcinogenic, typically inducing mesothelioma. Here we report that MWCNT induces mesothelioma along with a positive control, crocidolite (blue asbestos), when administered intraperitoneally to p53 heterozygous mice that have been reported to be sensitive to asbestos. Our results point out the possibility that carbon-made fibrous or rod-shaped micrometer particles may share the carcinogenic mechanisms postulated for asbestos. To maintain sound activity of industrialization of nanomaterials, it would be prudent to implement strategies to keep good control of exposure to fibrous or rod-shaped carbon materials both in the workplace and in the future market until the biological/ carcinogenic properties, especially of their long-term biodurability, are fully assessed.

[PDF (25916K)] [References]

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	To cite this article:
	Atsuya Takagi, Akihiko Hirose, Tetsuji Nishimura, Nobutaka Fukumori, Akio Ogata, Norio Ohashi, Satoshi Kitajima and Jun Kanno: “Induction of mesothelioma in p53+/− mouse by intraperitoneal application of multi-wall carbon nanotube”: J. Toxicol. Sci., Vol. 33: No. 1, 105-116. (2008) .

	doi:10.2131/jts.33.105
	JOI JST.JSTAGE/jts/33.105

Friday, May 2, 2008

Governor Perry Announces $250,000 in TETF for Halsa Pharmaceuticals

Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry today announced the state will invest $250,000 through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) in Halsa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Houston for the development and pilot manufacturing of a therapeutic drug treatment for obesity. Up to $1 million total investment may be available to the company if it meets certain performance benchmarks.

"Obesity is a serious health epidemic affecting more than 10 million Texans," said Gov. Perry. "The development of effective obesity treatments, coupled with a healthy lifestyle, will not only save taxpayers billions in direct costs and lost productivity but will more importantly save lives."

Founded in 2000, Halsa Pharmaceuticals’ initial business plan was developed in the MOOT CORP Program at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. Halsa won the Texas MOOT CORP Competition and received a $100,000 investment from the MOOT CORP Pontoon Fund. Since its establishment, the company has received significant support from BioHouston, an organization that fosters activities to spur life-science start-ups, and other private investors.

Halsa has achieved exclusive patent rights to a natural material that, when injected into an obese patient, causes immediate and substantial depletion of body fat with none of the adverse side effects that other weight loss formulas produce. The company is moving into the advanced testing stages of the product.

The Texas Emerging Technology Fund is a $200 million initiative created by the Texas Legislature in 2005 at the governor’s request and was reauthorized in 2007. A 17-member advisory committee of high-tech leaders, entrepreneurs and research experts reviews potential TETF projects and recommends funding allocations to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House. To date, the TETF has allocated $86.9 million in funds to Texas companies and universities. For more information on the TETF, please visit www.emergingtechfund.com.

Source

Halsa Pharmaceuticals
http://www.halsapharma.com/

Further article
Article Date: 26 Mar 2008 - 4:00 PDT

Houston-based Halsa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has been awarded $250,000 from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) to continue development and pilot manufacturing of a therapeutic treatment for obesity. The TETF may provide up to $1 million total investment if the company meets certain performance benchmarks.

Halsa holds exclusive patent rights to a natural material that, when injected by a physician into an obese patient, is expected to cause immediate and substantial depletion of body fat.

"The TETF process was an intense and constructive dialogue. Both the Texas Life Science Committee (TLSC) and the 17-member committee's analysis required Halsa's management to attain critical milestones, and we're a much better situated company for this direction and support," said Halsa CEO Phil Speros, Ph.D.

"[This] process has become a de facto vetting mechanism that funding entities use to enrich the set of early stage companies on which to focus," stated TETF Director Mark Ellison.

The TETF, a $200 million initiative created by the Texas Legislature in 2005 at the governor's request, encourages the creation of companies and jobs in new technologies and the life sciences. The fund gives preference to proposals that have the potential to result in a medical or scientific breakthrough.

"We believe that Halsa's technology has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of obesity. Halsa's obesity therapeutic is an example of the 'disruptive' technology that the Emerging Technology Fund has a mandate to commercialize. The Emerging Technology Fund can help bridge the gap between Halsa's grant funding and venture capital funding that is critical for commercialization," said Charles W. Tate, chairman of the Texas Life Science Center.

Halsa Pharmaceuticals' initial business plan was developed in the MOOT CORP Program at the UT/McCombs School of Business. Halsa won the Texas MOOT CORP Competition and received a $100,000 investment from the MOOT CORP Pontoon Fund.

According to Dr. Gary Cadenhead, former director of the MOOT CORP Program, "Halsa has the greatest potential, both in terms of benefiting the health of humans around the world and in becoming a major economic success, of any of the ventures launched during my tenure as director."

The company has also progressed with significant support from BioHouston, which facilitated a core of germane activities and symposia. Recently, private investors have provided additional seed capital.

More than 65% of American adults are overweight, and half are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Over $110 billion annually is lost to obesity and overweight in the United States, 50% due to direct health care costs and 50% from loss of productivity due to illness and mortality. Obesity is highly correlated with increased incidence of heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, osteoarthritis, and other diseases.

"Prevalence continues to increase with no sign of a leveling. It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of the problem of obesity. Effective, suitable treatments are lacking," stated John P. Foreyt, Ph.D., director of the Behavioral Research Center at the Baylor College of Medicine and a member of Halsa's Scientific Advisory Board.

"In our preliminary work, the candidate therapeutic has acted consistently in causing fat breakdown without showing adverse side effects," Speros said. "The pharmaceutical development process is long and full of uncertainties, but these early results lead us to believe that a product using our technology will benefit the obese and morbidly obese without the gastrointestinal distress, blood pressure increase, or mood depression encountered with existing products."

About Halsa Pharmaceuticals

Halsa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2000 to pursue the development of a therapeutic treatment for obesity.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements," which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements.

Halsa Pharmaceuticals

Google and IBM are bonding in a serious way

PC era fading, cloud computing rising -- watch out, Microsoft?

By Patrick Thibodeau

May 2, 2008 (Computerworld) Los Angeles -- While Microsoft chases Yahoo, Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO and chairman is seeking a stronger relationship with IBM, something in which Big Blue's chairman and CEO, Sam Palmisano, appears very interested.

Schmidt, who spoke at the IBM's PartnerWorld conference, later shared the stage at the Nokia Theater here with Palmisano, to discuss cloud computing, globalization and other issues.

The two CEOs bantered like old golf buddies, praising each other's organizations and rarely giving moderator Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor of global strategy at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, a chance to ask questions.

Google and IBM collaborated last year on a compute cloud-type system -- a platform for delivering scalable IT capabilities as a service -- and then turned it over for universities to use. It was a pilot project, but it was clear from today that the two firms will be doing more.

Google wants enterprise customers for its applications, which are delivered as services via compute clouds. What it needs to help make that happen is IBM.

In response to a question about IBM from this reporter after his talk, Schmidt said IBM is one of the "key planks of the strategy" for reaching enterprise customers. "Customers like to buy from strong sales forces that provide real quality service, and IBM is the best at that," he said.

For his part, Palmisano offered a Google-like view of the universe when told his business partner audience that the "PC is receding in influence," and is being replaced by network infrastructures.

To that point, IBM this week said it will offer an iTunes-like application delivery model for small and mid-sized businesses. Its Blue Business Platform will deliver complete and integrated software from either IBM or participating independent software vendors.

Its "Global Application Marketplace" will include applications and services, delivered via an online catalog directly to a user's server, as well as Web 2.0-like peer ratings of the products. IBM officials see it as a direct challenge to Microsoft in that market.

And there may be other, less tangible benefits to Google-IBM cooperation.

Frank Gens, an IDC analyst, said the two firms likely want to pool engineering talent on developing a cloud computing platform, as well as putting both their brands behind it. And combining Google's "cool" with IBM's enterprise credibility could boost acceptance of the cloud business platform.

Today, IBM is developing Blue Cloud, a system that will enable enterprises to build cloud-type system as a means to deliver services via a cloud internally, or to external users. It's due to release details of the system in the next month or two.

Palmisano said he believes he and Schmidt share a common view of the future, which includes commitment to standards and open architectures.

IBM and Google, said Schmidt are similar in many respects, with "engineering-oriented cultures" and support for collaboration.

Palmisano said maintaining a strong research and development effort is critical for IBM, otherwise his "scientists would leave -- they would go to Google."

Source

A diagnostic "nanochip" that would detect markers of disease from all ovr the body

[A SNIP]

TR: For the past several years, researchers at your institute have talked about a diagnostic "nanochip" that would detect markers of disease from all over the body. Can you update me on that project?

LH: What we're interested in doing is developing strategies that will let us identify proteins in the blood that will permit us to interrogate the state of individual organs: the liver, the heart, the muscle--whatever you'd like to look at.

The basic idea is that the organ-specific proteins from, say, the liver will reflect the operation of the networks in the liver. So they'll be at one set of concentrations for normal liver, and a different set of concentrations for a liver that has cancer or hepatitis or cirrhosis and other diseases. These blood fingerprints, then, are not assays for a disease; they're assays for all disease. We've looked at two organ systems: the brain and the liver. We've certainly verified in general ways these principles.

We'd like to be able to identify fiftyish organ-specific blood proteins from each of the organs, and then be able to measure them so we could have an organ-wide assay. We'd like to give you a very broad-spectrum screen of all the different major organs in disease. The challenge is to be able to do the measurements in the blood, because that's the only organ that's readily accessible; that's the only organ that bathes all other organs; and it's an organ whose fluid properties make it easily manipulable for measurement and so forth.

TR: What progress have you made?

LH: This is really a challenging project. We've been collaborating with James Heath at Caltech for about four years. We have a little nanochip, if you will, that can make 20 different measurements of blood proteins. It can make the measurements in about five minutes' time and is as sensitive as any assay out there right now. And it will probably operate across six to eight orders of magnitude [in terms of] concentration difference--that's really important if you want to make blood measurements, because a big organ like the liver puts a lot of proteins in the blood, and a small organ like the beta cells of the pancreas puts out very few. You have to be able to span many orders of magnitude if you're going to make appropriate measurements.

TR: When can we expect this nanochip?

LH: There are two challenges with the chip that we're currently facing. One, getting good antibody reagents is really difficult and really expensive. So we're going to explore alternative chemistries for creating protein-capture agents. The second big challenge for the nanochips is learning how to manufacture them on a scale that will make these measurements a few pennies per protein. The cost we have now is on the order of $50 per chip. And of course manufacturing is also important, to have good quality control, reproducibility in chip features. We're optimistic that both of those problems can be scaled and that we can scale chips up to make thousands of measurements.

Source

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Nanoengineering Artificial Lipid Envelopes Around Adenovirus by Self-Assembly

ACS Nano, 2008

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1021/nn8000565

Article

Ravi Singh, Khuloud T. Al-Jamal, Lara Lacerda, and Kostas Kostarelos^*

Nanomedicine Laboratory, Centre for Drug Delivery Research, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom

^*Address correspondence to kostas.kostarelos@pharmacy.ac.uk.

ABSTRACT

We have developed a novel, reproducible, and facile methodology for the construction of artificial lipid envelopes for adenoviruses (Ad) by self-assembly of lipid molecules around the viral capsid. No alteration of the viral genome or conjugation surface chemistry at the virus capsid was necessary, therefore difficulties in production and purification associated with generating most surface-modified viruses can be eliminated. Different lipid bilayer compositions produced artificially enveloped Ad with physicochemical and biological characteristics determined by the type of lipid used. Physicochemical characteristics such as vector size, degree of aggregation, stability, and surface charge of the artificially enveloped Ad were correlated to their biological (gene transfer) function. In monolayer cell cultures, binding to the coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) was blocked using a zwitterionic envelope, whereas enhanced binding to the cell membrane was achieved using a cationic envelope. Envelopment of Ad by both zwitterionic and cationic lipid bilayers led to almost complete ablation of gene expression in cell monolayers, due to blockage of virion endosomal escape. Alternatively, artificial Ad envelopes built from lipid bilayers at the fluid phase in physiological conditions led to enhanced penetration of the vectors inside a three-dimensional tumor spheroid cell culture model and delayed gene expression in the tumor spheroid compared to nonenveloped adenovirus. These results indicate that construction of artificial envelopes for nonenveloped viruses by lipid bilayer wrapping of the viral capsids constitutes a general strategy to rationally engineer viruses at the nanoscale with control over their biological properties.

Source

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Student wins top science prize

Flu virus research earns NRC honour

Chris Maclean, The Ottawa Citizen

Julie Oliver, The Ottawa Citizen

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

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