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

This summer, NASA plans to launch its next Mars rover, Perseverance, which will carry with it the first aircraft to ever fly on another planet, the Mars Helicopter. Penn Engineers are suggesting a different approach to exploring the skies of other worlds: a fleet of tiny aircraft that each weighs about as much as a fruit fly and has no moving parts. These flyers are plates of "nanocardboard," which levitate when light  is shone on them. A "nanocardboard" is made of an aluminum oxide film with a thickness of tens of nanometers and is the ultrathin equivalent of corrugated paper cardboard. One square centimeter of nanocardboard weighs less than a thousandth of a gram and can spring back into shape after being bent in half. (see Penn Engineers Develop Ultrathin, Ultralight ‘Nanocardboard’)

This summer, NASA plans to launch its next Mars rover, Perseverance, which will carry with it the first aircraft to ever fly on another planet, the Mars Helicopter. Penn Engineers are suggesting a different approach to exploring the skies of other worlds: a fleet of tiny aircraft that each weighs about as much as a fruit fly and has no moving parts. These flyers are plates of "nanocardboard," which levitate when light  is shone on them. A "nanocardboard" is made of an aluminum oxide film with a thickness of tens of nanometers and is the ultrathin equivalent of corrugated paper cardboard. One square centimeter of nanocardboard weighs less than a thousandth of a gram and can spring back into shape after being bent in half. (see Penn Engineers Develop Ultrathin, Ultralight ‘Nanocardboard’)

A team of biomaterials scientists and dentists at the UCLA School of Dentistry has developed a nanoparticle that, based on initial experiments in mice, could improve treatment for bone defects. In a six-week study using mice with bone defects in their skulls, the researchers saw an average reduction of roughly 50% in the size of the defects after the drug-loaded scaffold was implanted.

A team of biomaterials scientists and dentists at the UCLA School of Dentistry has developed a nanoparticle that, based on initial experiments in mice, could improve treatment for bone defects. In a six-week study using mice with bone defects in their skulls, the researchers saw an average reduction of roughly 50% in the size of the defects after the drug-loaded scaffold was implanted.

A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered how to use protein nanowires, which are biological, electricity-conducting filaments, to make a neuromorphic memristor, or "memory transistor," device. The device runs extremely efficiently on very low power, as brains do, to carry signals between neurons.

A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered how to use protein nanowires, which are biological, electricity-conducting filaments, to make a neuromorphic memristor, or "memory transistor," device. The device runs extremely efficiently on very low power, as brains do, to carry signals between neurons.

Scientists at the University of South Florida have reached a milestone in the development of two-dimensional supramolecules – large molecular structures that are made up of individual molecules. The scientists were able to build a 20-nm-wide metallo-supramolecular hexagonal grid by combining intra- and intermolecular self-assembly processes. This work will advance further understanding of the design principles governing these molecular formations and could one day lead to the development of new materials with yet-to-be-discovered functions and properties.

Scientists at the University of South Florida have reached a milestone in the development of two-dimensional supramolecules – large molecular structures that are made up of individual molecules. The scientists were able to build a 20-nm-wide metallo-supramolecular hexagonal grid by combining intra- and intermolecular self-assembly processes. This work will advance further understanding of the design principles governing these molecular formations and could one day lead to the development of new materials with yet-to-be-discovered functions and properties.

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 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.