News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Scientists at Rice University have optimized a process to convert waste from rubber tires into graphene, which can be used to strengthen concrete. The process was introduced in 2020 by the same scientists and has been used to convert food waste and plastic into graphene by exposing them to a jolt of electricity, which removes everything but carbon atoms from the sample. Those atoms then reassemble into graphene. This time, the scientists applied the process to tire-derived carbon black and found that about 70% of the material converted to graphene.

A team of U.S. and European researchers has developed an elegant method for producing individual, continuous chains of palladium ions. The process is based on self-organized assembly of a special palladium complex and single-stranded DNA molecules (which are becoming an important tool for nanoscience and nanotechnology). The incorporation of metals in DNA structures can give them properties such as conductivity, catalytic activity, magnetism, and photoactivity. But organizing metal ions in DNA molecules is not easy. So, the researchers used a specially constructed palladium complex that can form base pairs with natural adenine bases in a strand of DNA.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a new class of quantum dots that deliver a stable stream of single, spectrally tunable infrared photons under ambient conditions and at room temperature, unlike other single-photon emitters. This discovery opens a range of practical applications, including quantum communication, quantum metrology, medical imaging and diagnostics, and clandestine labeling.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Leibniz Institute for New Materials in Germany have demonstrated that stretching shape-memory polymers embedded with clusters of gold nanoparticles alters their plasmon coupling, giving rise to desirable optical properties. One potential application for the material is a sensor that relies on optical properties to track an object or environment's thermal history. An important application of thermal-history sensors is assuring the quality or safety of shipping or storing materials that are sensitive to significant changes in heat.

An international team of researchers has developed a way to harvest energy from radio waves to power wearable devices. The system consists of two stretchable metal antennas integrated onto a conductive graphene material with a metal coating. This system is connected to a stretchable rectifying circuit, creating a rectified antenna, or "rectenna," capable of converting energy from electromagnetic waves into electricity. This electricity can then be used to power wireless devices or to charge energy storage devices, such as batteries and supercapacitors.

Bright semiconductor nanocrystals known as quantum dots give QLED TV screens their vibrant colors. But attempts to increase the intensity of that light generate heat instead, reducing the quantum dots' light-producing efficiency. A new study by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory explains why, and the results have broad implications for developing future quantum and photonics technologies, in which light replaces electrons in computers and fluids in refrigerators.

An international team of scientists has developed molecular coatings that are compatible with biological environments and can stabilize wireframed DNA origami cages. DNA origami is a nanoscience method for folding DNA to create two- and three-dimensional shapes. The DNA cages can carry an anticancer drug with a slower release of the medicine over time than possible with the non-coated counterpart.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a screening technique that is 300 times more sensitive at detecting a biomarker for colorectal cancer than current methods. The technique uses nanoparticles with nickel-rich cores and platinum-rich shells to increase the sensitivity of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a test which measures samples for biochemicals that indicate the presence of cancer, HIV, and pregnancy.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a screening technique that is 300 times more sensitive at detecting a biomarker for colorectal cancer than current methods. The technique uses nanoparticles with nickel-rich cores and platinum-rich shells to increase the sensitivity of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a test which measures samples for biochemicals that indicate the presence of cancer, HIV, and pregnancy.

Relief for people who suffer from movement-related brain disorders, chronic depression, and pain may one day be in the form of a new treatment invented by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and four universities. This new treatment involves stimulation of neurons deep within the brain by means of injected nanoparticles that light up when exposed to X-rays and would eliminate an invasive brain surgery currently in use.