Actualités

Physicists at the University of Groningen have now imaged hydrogen at the titanium/titanium hydride interface with the help of a transmission electron microscope.

The concept is based on the interaction of resonant semiconductor iron oxide Fe2O3 nanoparticles with light. Particles previously loaded with the antitumor drug are injected in vivo and further accumulate at the tumor areas. In order to release the drug non-invasively, the carrier particles have to be light-sensitive. For this purpose, the polymer containers (capsules) can be modified with iron oxide resonant semiconductor nanoparticles. When irradiated with light, they get heated and induce drug release.

Collecting energy from environmental waste heat such as that lost from the human body is an attractive prospect to power small electronics sustainably. A thermocell is a type of energy-harvesting device that converts environmental heat into electricity through the thermal charging effect.

Every age in the history of human civilisation has a signature material, from the Stone Age, to the Bronze and Iron Ages. We might even call today’s information-driven society the Silicon Age.
Since the 1960s, silicon nanostructures, the building-blocks of microchips, have supercharged the development of electronics, communications, manufacturing, medicine, and more.

Biosensors integrated into smartphones, smart watches, and other gadgets are about to become a reality. In a paper featured on the cover of the January issue of Sensors (« Vertically Coupled Plasmonic Racetrack Ring Resonator for Biosensor Applications »), researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology describe a way to increase the sensitivity of biological detectors to the point where they can be used in mobile and wearable devices. The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

Today, nanoparticles are not only in cosmetic products, but everywhere, in the air, in water, in the soil and in food. Because they are so tiny, they easily enter into the cells in our body. This is also of interest for medical applications: Nanoparticles coated with active ingredients could be specifically introduced into cells, for example to destroy cancer cells.

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) and the University of Duisburg-Essen have developed a new method of depositing catalyst particles to tiny electrodes. It is inexpensive, simple and quick to perform.

Computers process information based on arrays of so-called bits. Each bit can take the values of one or zero. This is typically realized with integrated electronic circuits permanently written onto a semiconductor chip.

Copper has been essential to human technology since its early days–it was even used to make tools and weapons in ancient times. It is widely used even today, especially in electronic devices that require wiring.