High-energy X-ray beams and a clever experimental setup allowed researchers to watch a high-pressure, high-temperature chemical reaction to determine for the first time what controls formation of two different nanoscale crystalline structures in the metal cobalt. The technique allowed continuous study of cobalt nanoparticles as they grew from clusters including tens of atoms to crystals…
Innovative Chip Calculates Cellular Response to Speed Drug Discovery
Finding ways to improve the drug development process — which is currently costly, time-consuming and has an astronomically high failure rate — could have far-reaching benefits for health care and the economy. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have designed a cellular interfacing array using low-cost electronics that measures multiple cellular properties and responses…
The Future of Self-Powered Low Energy Devices
Most people have felt that sting from grabbing a doorknob after walking across a carpet or seen how a balloon will stick to a fuzzy surface after a few moments of vigorous rubbing. While the effects of static electricity have been fascinating casual observers and scientists for millennia, certain aspects of how the electricity is…
Database Developed to Track Nanocrystal Growth
Researchers have published the first part of what they expect to be a database showing the kinetics involved in producing colloidal metal nanocrystals — which are suitable for catalytic, biomedical, photonic, and electronic applications — through an autocatalytic mechanism. In the solution-based process, precursor chemicals adsorb to nanocrystal seeds before being reduced to atoms that…
Wearable Thermoelectric Generators Get Boost from Circuitry
Using flexible conducting polymers and novel circuitry patterns printed on paper, researchers have demonstrated proof-of-concept wearable thermoelectric generators that can harvest energy from body heat to power simple biosensors for measuring heart rate, respiration, or other factors. Because of their symmetrical fractal wiring patterns, the devices can be cut to the size needed to provide…
Biomass Produced Electricity in the U.S. is Possible But Expensive
New Projects Create a Foundation for Next-Gen Flexible Electronics
Four projects set to move forward at the Georgia Institute of Technology aim to lay the groundwork for manufacturing next-generation flexible electronics, which have the potential to make an impact on industries ranging from health care to defense. The projects, which will take place over the next two years and have a budget of more…
Triboelectric Nanogenerators Heighten Mass Spectrometry Output
Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) convert mechanical energy harvested from the environment to electricity for powering small devices such as sensors or for recharging consumer electronics. Now, researchers have harnessed these devices to improve the charging of molecules in a way that dramatically boosts the sensitivity of a widely-used chemical analysis technique. Researchers at the Georgia Institute…
Metamaterial Breaks Records as Power Modulates
The researchers recently demonstrated properties of their chiral metamaterial, in which they spectrally modified two absorptive resonances by incrementally exposing the material to power intensities beyond its linear optical regime. With a 15 milliwatt change in excitation power, they measured a 10-nanometer spectral shift in the material’s transmission resonances and a 14-degree polarization rotation. The…