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

Scientists from the Center for Functional Nanomaterials – a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory – have come up with a technique for optimizing the activity of zinc oxide nanowires. Their technique involves chemically treating the surface of the nanowires in such a way that they can be uniformly coated with an ultrathin film of titanium dioxide, which acts as both a catalyst and protective layer.

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that highly porous materials can absorb key components of a class of toxic chemicals found in 43 U.S. states. These nano-sized porous materials, called metal-organic frameworks, can quickly take up fluorinated compounds that were widely used in firefighting foam and non-stick cookware.

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that highly porous materials can absorb key components of a class of toxic chemicals found in 43 U.S. states. These nano-sized porous materials, called metal-organic frameworks, can quickly take up fluorinated compounds that were widely used in firefighting foam and non-stick cookware.a

By energizing precursor molecules using a tiny, high-energy supersonic jet of inert gas, researchers have dramatically accelerated the fabrication of nanostructures. The technique allows nanostructures to be made at rates approaching what would be expected in the liquid phase, which could make these nanostructures practical for use in magnetic memory, high-frequency antennas, and quantum communication devices.

By energizing precursor molecules using a tiny, high-energy supersonic jet of inert gas, researchers have dramatically accelerated the fabrication of nanostructures. The technique allows nanostructures to be made at rates approaching what would be expected in the liquid phase, which could make these nanostructures practical for use in magnetic memory, high-frequency antennas, and quantum communication devices.

Researchers from the University of Vermont, Boston University, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated a new experimental capability for watching thin film growth in real-time. The researchers were able to produce a "movie" of thin film growth that depicts the process more accurately than traditional techniques can.

Researchers from the University of Vermont, Boston University, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated a new experimental capability for watching thin film growth in real-time. The researchers were able to produce a "movie" of thin film growth that depicts the process more accurately than traditional techniques can.

In a major collaborative effort, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have for the first time eliminated replication-competent HIV-1 DNA – the virus responsible for AIDS – from the genomes of living animals. The study marks a critical step toward the development of a possible cure for human HIV infection.

In a major collaborative effort, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center have for the first time eliminated replication-competent HIV-1 DNA – the virus responsible for AIDS – from the genomes of living animals. The study marks a critical step toward the development of a possible cure for human HIV infection.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have pioneered cutting-edge methods to study the formation of calcium carbonate in saline water. Their results suggest that we may have been overestimating how fast calcium carbonate forms in saline environments.