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

Researchers have found that nanocrystal formation is key to improving the performance of magnesium-containing rechargeable batteries.

Researchers have found that nanocrystal formation is key to improving the performance of magnesium-containing rechargeable batteries.

Chemists at Northwestern University have used visible light and nanoparticles to quickly and simply make molecules that are of the same class as many lead compounds for drug development. The nanoparticles are known as quantum dots – so small they are only a few nanometers across. But the small size is power, providing the material with attractive optical and electronic properties not possible at greater length scales.

Chemists at Northwestern University have used visible light and nanoparticles to quickly and simply make molecules that are of the same class as many lead compounds for drug development. The nanoparticles are known as quantum dots – so small they are only a few nanometers across. But the small size is power, providing the material with attractive optical and electronic properties not possible at greater length scales.

Using computer modeling and an imaging technique called liquid-phase electron microscopy, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University pinpointed the individual motions of nanoscale particles as they orient themselves into crystal lattices. The work confirms that synthetic nanoparticles—the fundamental building blocks of many synthetic and biological materials—can assemble in ways far more complex than larger particles, the researchers said, and paves the way to more general applications for mineralization, pharmaceuticals, optics and electronics.

Using computer modeling and an imaging technique called liquid-phase electron microscopy, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University pinpointed the individual motions of nanoscale particles as they orient themselves into crystal lattices. The work confirms that synthetic nanoparticles—the fundamental building blocks of many synthetic and biological materials—can assemble in ways far more complex than larger particles, the researchers said, and paves the way to more general applications for mineralization, pharmaceuticals, optics and electronics.

How do we know when graphene, the most widely studied 2-D material, is a defect-free and uniform layer of atoms? Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have discovered an indicator that reliably demonstrates a sample's high quality. The researchers were investigating samples of graphene using low-energy electron diffraction and realized that a broad band of diffuse diffraction in the background was actually an intrinsic feature of graphene, but that broad band of diffuse diffraction had been ignored for the past 25 years.

How do we know when graphene, the most widely studied 2-D material, is a defect-free and uniform layer of atoms? Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have discovered an indicator that reliably demonstrates a sample's high quality. The researchers were investigating samples of graphene using low-energy electron diffraction and realized that a broad band of diffuse diffraction in the background was actually an intrinsic feature of graphene, but that broad band of diffuse diffraction had been ignored for the past 25 years.

An international research team led by a physicist at the University of California, Riverside, has identified a process of electron spin dynamics in nanoparticles that could impact the design of applications in medicine, quantum computation, and spintronics.

An international research team led by a physicist at the University of California, Riverside, has identified a process of electron spin dynamics in nanoparticles that could impact the design of applications in medicine, quantum computation, and spintronics.