Press Releases: Research Funded by Agencies Participating in the National Nanotechnology Initiative

A research team led by Northwestern University has designed and synthesized new materials with ultrahigh porosity and surface area for the storage of hydrogen and methane for fuel cell-powered vehicles. These gases are attractive clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Thanks to its nanoscopic pores, a one-gram sample of the Northwestern material, a type of a metal-organic framework, has a surface area that would cover 1.3 football fields.

A collaboration of scientists from the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)—a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory—Yale University, and Arizona State University has designed and tested a new two-dimensional catalyst that can be used to improve water purification using hydrogen peroxide. So far, scientists have struggled to improve the efficiency of the process through catalysis because each part of the reaction needs its own catalyst—called a co-catalyst—and the co-catalysts can’t be next to each other. The team presented the design for the new two-dimensional catalyst, in which two co-catalysts are in two different locations on a thin nanosheet. One of the co-catalysts—a single cobalt atom—sits in the center of the sheet, whereas the other one, a molecule called anthraquinone, is placed around the edges.

Researchers have shown that the chemical compounds that coat cicada wings contribute to their ability to repel water and kill microbes. Previous studies have shown that cicadas have a highly ordered pattern of tiny pillars, called nanopillars, on their wings. The new study revealed that cicada wings are coated in hydrocarbons, fatty acids, and oxygen-containing molecules. The oxygen-containing molecules were most abundant deep in the nanopillars, while hydrocarbons and fatty acids made up more of the outermost nanopillar layers. The study also revealed that altering these surface chemicals changed the nanopillar structure and the wings' wettability and anti-microbial characteristics.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have architecturally designed nanometer-sized carbon structures called plate nanolattices that are stronger than diamonds (as a ratio of strength to density). The researchers showed that their design improved the average performance of cylindrical beam-based architectures by up to 639 percent in strength and 522 percent in rigidity. Nanolattices hold great promise for structural engineers, particularly in aerospace, because it is hoped that their combination of strength and low mass density will greatly enhance aircraft and spacecraft performance.