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

A Northwestern University-led team has developed a highly porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. With an ability to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil, the sponge could be used to clean up oil spills inexpensively and efficiently without harming marine life. The secret lies in a nanocomposite coating of magnetic nanostructures and a carbon-based substrate that is oleophilic (attracts oil), hydrophobic (resists water), and magnetic. The nanocomposite's nanoporous 3D structure selectively interacts with and binds to the oil molecules, capturing and storing the oil until it is squeezed out.  

A Northwestern University-led team has developed a highly porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. With an ability to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil, the sponge could be used to clean up oil spills inexpensively and efficiently without harming marine life. The secret lies in a nanocomposite coating of magnetic nanostructures and a carbon-based substrate that is oleophilic (attracts oil), hydrophobic (resists water), and magnetic. The nanocomposite's nanoporous 3D structure selectively interacts with and binds to the oil molecules, capturing and storing the oil until it is squeezed out.  

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France have developed a radio-frequency switch that is more than 50 times more energy efficient than what is used today. This is the first switch that can function across the spectrum – from the low-end gigahertz frequencies to high-end terahertz frequencies. The switch uses hexagonal boron nitride, a rapidly emerging nanomaterial and the thinnest known insulator.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Lille in France have developed a radio-frequency switch that is more than 50 times more energy efficient than what is used today. This is the first switch that can function across the spectrum – from the low-end gigahertz frequencies to high-end terahertz frequencies. The switch uses hexagonal boron nitride, a rapidly emerging nanomaterial and the thinnest known insulator.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have made a significant advance in using magnetic resonance imaging to pick out even very small tumors from normal tissue. The new research is based on a phenomenon called magnetic resonance tuning, which occurs between two nanoscale magnetic elements. One acts to enhance the signal, and the other quenches it. The researchers created a probe that generates two magnetic resonance signals that suppress each other until they reach the target, at which point they both increase contrast between the tumor and surrounding tissue. Combined with specially developed imaging analysis software, the double signal enabled researchers to pick out brain tumors in a mouse model with greatly increased sensitivity.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have made a significant advance in using magnetic resonance imaging to pick out even very small tumors from normal tissue. The new research is based on a phenomenon called magnetic resonance tuning, which occurs between two nanoscale magnetic elements. One acts to enhance the signal, and the other quenches it. The researchers created a probe that generates two magnetic resonance signals that suppress each other until they reach the target, at which point they both increase contrast between the tumor and surrounding tissue. Combined with specially developed imaging analysis software, the double signal enabled researchers to pick out brain tumors in a mouse model with greatly increased sensitivity.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Picardie in France and the Southern Federal University in Russia, have discovered the presence of a Hopfion structure in ferroelectric nanoparticles. A Hopfion structure, first proposed by Austrian mathematician Heinz Hopf in 1931, emerges in a wide range of physical constructs, and one of its defining characteristics is that any two lines within the Hopfion structure must be linked, constituting knots ranging in complexity from a few interconnected rings to a mathematical rat’s nest. According to the current study, the polarization structure in a spherical ferroelectric nanoparticle takes on this same knotted swirl.  

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with the University of Picardie in France and the Southern Federal University in Russia, have discovered the presence of a Hopfion structure in ferroelectric nanoparticles. A Hopfion structure, first proposed by Austrian mathematician Heinz Hopf in 1931, emerges in a wide range of physical constructs, and one of its defining characteristics is that any two lines within the Hopfion structure must be linked, constituting knots ranging in complexity from a few interconnected rings to a mathematical rat’s nest. According to the current study, the polarization structure in a spherical ferroelectric nanoparticle takes on this same knotted swirl.  

Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a highly printable bioink as a platform to generate anatomical-scale functional tissues. Bioprinting is an emerging additive manufacturing approach that takes biomaterials such as hydrogels and combines them with cells and growth factors, which are then printed to create tissue-like structures that imitate natural tissues. The researchers developed advanced bioinks that contain nanosilicates – nanoparticles that are 1–2 nm in thickness and 20–50 nm in diameter – and provide more effective reinforcement, which results in stronger structures. 

Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a highly printable bioink as a platform to generate anatomical-scale functional tissues. Bioprinting is an emerging additive manufacturing approach that takes biomaterials such as hydrogels and combines them with cells and growth factors, which are then printed to create tissue-like structures that imitate natural tissues. The researchers developed advanced bioinks that contain nanosilicates – nanoparticles that are 1–2 nm in thickness and 20–50 nm in diameter – and provide more effective reinforcement, which results in stronger structures.