(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy)
Researchers from Penn State and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan have created a switch that turns on and off the presence of “kink states” – electrical conduction pathways at the edge of semiconducting materials. By controlling the formation of the kink states, researchers can regulate the flow of electrons in a quantum system. Kink states exist in a quantum device built with a bilayer graphene, which comprises two layers of atomically thin carbon stacked together, in such a way that the atoms in one layer are misaligned to the atoms in the other. “The amazing thing about our devices is that we can make electrons moving in opposite directions not collide with one another … even though they share the same pathways,” said Ke Huang, one of the scientists involved in this study.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from North Carolina State University, the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden in Germany, Technische Universität Dresden in Germany, and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg in Germany have embedded gold nanorods in hydrogels that can be processed through 3D printing to create structures that contract when exposed to light and expand when the light is removed. When the hydrogel structures are exposed to light, the embedded gold nanorods convert that light into heat. This causes the polymers in the hydrogel to contract, pushing water out of the hydrogel and shrinking the structure. When the light is removed, the polymers cool down and begin absorbing water again, which expands the hydrogel structure to its original dimensions. Because this expansion and contraction can be performed repeatedly, the 3D-printed structures can serve as remotely controlled actuators.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology)
Researchers from the University of Maryland and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have engineered a seafood-waste material that removes chemical pesticides and herbicides from produce and extends shelf life. The material, made of a derivative of crab and shrimp shells, is designed to form a thin nanocrystal layer on the treated produce, removing chemical residues. The researchers used a smartphone app to check the chemical residue level. They found that this coating was effective in absorbing the chemical residues, enhanced the fruit’s shelf life, and was easily rinsed off.

(Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from Vanderbilt University, Yale University, Northwestern University, and AstraZeneca have developed a set of nanoparticles that stimulate the immune system in mice to fight cancer and may eventually do the same in humans. The nanoparticles delivered a nucleic acid molecule that triggers an immune response that is normally used by the body to recognize foreign viruses to help the immune system mount a defense, according to the researchers.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)
Researchers from the University of Rochester have outlined a process for mapping heat transfer using luminescent nanoparticles. By applying highly doped upconverting nanoparticles to the surface of a device, the researchers were able to achieve super-high-resolution thermometry at the nanoscale level from up to 10 millimeters away. According to Andrea Pickel , one of the scientists involved in the study, this method could be used by manufacturers to improve a wide array of electrical components.