In a new study from the University of Illinois at Chicago, researchers examining post-mortem brain tissue from people ages 79 to 99 found that new neurons continue to form well into old age. The study provides evidence that this occurs even in people with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, although neurogenesis is significantly reduced in…
Graphene Coating Could Help Prevent Lithium Battery Fires
Materials Could Delay Frost Up to 300 Times Longer than Existing Anti-Icing Coatings
Most techniques to prevent frost and ice formation on surfaces rely heavily on heating or liquid chemicals that need to be repeatedly reapplied because they easily wash away. Even advanced anti-icing materials have problems functioning under conditions of high humidity and subzero conditions, when frost and ice formation go into overdrive. Now, researchers from the…
UIC to Lead $3M Initiative to Develop System to Identify, Patch Software Security Holes
The University of Illinois at Chicago will lead a $3 million project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to design, develop and evaluate a system that will identify security vulnerabilities in web software. UIC will receive $1.4 million of the funding, and the rest will support co-investigators at the University of Texas at…
Graphene Utilized to Detect ALS, Other Neurodegenerative Diseases
The wonders of graphene are numerous — it can enable flexible electronic components, enhance solar cell capacity, filter the finest subatomic particles and revolutionize batteries. Now, the “supermaterial” may one day be used to test for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS — a progressive, neurodegenerative disease which is diagnosed mostly by ruling out other disorders,…
Single Cell Sequencing Sheds Light on Why Cancers Form in Specific Cell Types
While many cells in our bodies can accumulate oncogenic mutations, the majority of these events do not lead to tumor formation as these abnormal cells are eliminated by defense mechanisms. Instead, tumors arise when a mutation happens in a particular cell type that is uniquely sensitive to it. Identifying such cancer cells of origin is…
Layering Boron Nitride on Materials Improves Performance
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a route to alter boron nitride, a layered 2D material, so that it can bind to other materials, like those found in electronics, biosensors, and airplanes, for example. Being able to better-incorporate boron nitride into these components could help dramatically improve their performance. The scientific…
A New Way to Alter Boron Nitride
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a route to alter boron nitride, a layered 2D material, so that it can bind to other materials, like those found in electronics, biosensors, and airplanes, for example. Being able to better-incorporate boron nitride into these components could help dramatically improve their performance. The scientific…
Point-of-Care Sensors to Detect Manganese From Single Drop of Blood
Nano-Sandwiching Improves Heat Transfer, Prevents Overheating in Nanoelectronics
Sandwiching two-dimensional materials used in nanoelectronic devices between their three-dimensional silicon bases and an ultrathin layer of aluminum oxide can significantly reduce the risk of component failure due to overheating, according to a new study published in the journal of Advanced Materials led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Engineering.…
Evening Preference, Lack of Sleep Associated With Higher BMI in People With Prediabetes
New Design Produces True Lithium-Air Battery
Graphene Oxide Nanosheets Offer Promise for Lithium-Metal Batteries
Lithium-metal batteries — which can hold up to 10 times more charge than the lithium-ion batteries that currently power our phones, laptops and cars — haven’t been commercialized because of a fatal flaw: as these batteries charge and discharge, lithium is deposited unevenly on the electrodes. This buildup cuts the lives of these batteries too…
Graphene Oxide Nanosheets Could Help Bring Lithium-Metal Batteries to Market
Nanoscale Chemical Reactions Mapped Inside Batteries in 3-D
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a new technique that lets them pinpoint the location of chemical reactions happening inside lithium-ion batteries in three dimensions at the nanoscale level. Their results are published in the journal Nature Communications. “Knowing the precise locations of chemical reactions within…
Mapping Nanoscale Chemical Reactions Inside Batteries In 3D
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a new technique that lets them pinpoint the location of chemical reactions happening inside lithium-ion batteries in three dimensions at the nanoscale level. Their results are published in the journal Nature Communications. “Knowing the precise locations of chemical reactions within individual…
Synthetic Cannabinoid Reduces Sleep Apnea
New Technique Produces Tunable, Nanoporous Materials
A collaborative group of researchers including Petr Kral, professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago, describe a new technique for creating novel nanoporous materials with unique properties that can be used to filter molecules or light. They describe their research in the journal Science. Nanoparticles are tiny particles made up of a central…
Converting Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide Using Water, Electricity
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis have determined how electrocatalysts can convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using water and electricity. The discovery can lead to the development of efficient electrocatalysts for large scale production of synthesis gas — a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.…
Safer, Stronger Batteries on the Horizon
Today’s rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are good, but they could be much better in the future. That’s what University of Illinois at Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory researchers have concluded, following extensive studies using real-time transmission electron microscopy, or TEM. The technique, they report in Nature Communications, is the most effective way to understand the electrochemical…
Newly-discovered Semiconductor Dynamics May Help Improve Energy Efficiency
Researchers examining the flow of electricity through semiconductors have uncovered another reason these materials seem to lose their ability to carry a charge as they become more densely “doped.” Their results, which may help engineers design faster semiconductors in the future, are published online in the journal ACS Nano. Semiconductors are found in just about every…
New Chemical Method Could Revolutionize Graphene
University of Illinois at Chicago scientists have discovered a new chemical method that enables graphene to be incorporated into a wide range of applications while maintaining its ultra-fast electronics. Graphene, a lightweight, thin, flexible material, can be used to enhance the strength and speed of computer display screens, electric/photonics circuits, solar cells and various medical,…
Naked Mole-Rats Survive With Low Oxygen by Metabolizing Fructose, Just Like Plants
First Use of Graphene to Detect Cancer Cells
What can’t graphene do? You can scratch “detect cancer” off of that list. By interfacing brain cells onto graphene, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have shown they can differentiate a single hyperactive cancerous cell from a normal cell, pointing the way to developing a simple, noninvasive tool for early cancer diagnosis. “This graphene system…
Researchers Peer Into Atom-sized Tunnels in Hunt for Better Battery
Battery researchers seeking improved electrode materials have focused on “tunneled” structures that make it easier for charge-carrying ions to move in and out of the electrode. Now a team led by a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago has used a special electron microscope with atomic-level resolution to show that certain large ions…