Nanotechnology

Superlubricity Coating for Nearly Friction-Free Surfaces

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving...

Engineers “Grow” Atomically Thin Transistors on Top of Computer Chips

Emerging AI applications, like chatbots that generate natural human language, demand denser, more powerful computer chips. But semiconductor chips are traditionally...

Hydrodynamic Effect Helps Motorized Objects Navigate Inclines

The tiny motors mimic how rock climbers navigate inclines.

Cohesive Circuit Protection for Wearable Electronics

The cellulose nanofiber coating counters bending damage and retains electrode function under water.

Revolutionizing High-Performance Computer Memory Storage

Magnets generate invisible fields that attract certain materials. Far more important to our everyday lives, magnets also can store data in computers. Exploiting the direction of the magnetic field, microscopic bar magnets each can store one bit of memory as a zero or a one — the language of computers.

New Transfer Process Moves 2D Materials from Growth Substrate to Device Substrate

Purdue University engineers have developed a patent-pending tool to make the manufacture of ultrathin semiconductors more consistent, controllable, and...

3D-Printable Nanocomposite Polymeric Ink Could Replace Epoxies

Researchers have created a way to make a 3D-printable nanocomposite polymeric ink that uses carbon nanotubes — known for their high tensile strength and lightness. This revolutionary ink could replace epoxies.

Robust Synthesis of Vertically Aligned Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Researchers are scaling up the production of vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes that could revolutionize diverse commercial products ranging from rechargeable batteries, automotive parts and sporting goods to boat hulls and water filters.

New Nanowire Sensors Are the Next Step in the Internet of Things

Researchers from TMOS, the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, have developed a sensor made from an array of nanowires,...

A New Design Provides the Greatest Precision in Memory to Date

Everyone is talking about the newest AI and the power of neural networks, forgetting that software is limited by the hardware on which it runs. But it is hardware, says USC...

Nanoscale 3D Structure to Control Light

3D nanometer-scale metamaterial structures hold promise for advanced optical isolators.

Inflatable, Shape-Changing Spinal Implants Could Help Treat Severe Pain

The device uses soft robotics, ultra-thin electronics, and microfluidics.

Suture of the Future Fights Infection

The smart bandage can dispense antibiotic, monitor wound-healing biomarkers, and report important data directly to doctors.

Growing a 2D Functional Transistor on a Silicon Wafer

True to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on a microchip has doubled every year since the 1960s. But this trajectory is predicted to soon plateau because silicon — the backbone...

Graphene-Based Electronics

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have developed a new nanoelectronics platform based on graphene — a single sheet of carbon atoms.

Carbon Nanotubes Store Energy

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists have created vertically aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes on metal foils that could be a boon for energy storage and the electronics industry.

AI that Mimics the Human Eye

Researchers at University of Central Florida have developed an artificial intelligence device that mimics the retina of the eye.

Nanomagnets Can Perform AI-Like Processing

The new method could slash the energy cost of AI.

Products of Tomorrow

This column presents technologies that have applications in commercial areas, possibly creating the products of tomorrow.

Graphene Boosts Flexible and Wearable Electronics Boosts

At 200 times stronger than steel, graphene has been hailed as a super material of the future since its discovery in 2004. The ultrathin carbon material is an incredibly strong...

Novel Nanowire Fabrication Technique Paves Way for Next Generation Spintronics

The challenge of fabricating nanowires directly on silicon substrates for the creation of the next generation of electronics has finally been solved by...

NYU Tandon Researchers Explore a More Frictionless Future

Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Elisa Riedo and her team have discovered a fundamental friction law that is leading to a deeper understanding of energy dissipation...

World's Smallest Photon Achieved in Dielectric Nanocavity

Until recently, it was widely believed among physicists that it was impossible to compress light below the so-called diffraction limit, except when using metal nanoparticles, which...

NanoGear Molecular Gear

Oscillatory and rotational motions of different parts are combined to pave the way to developing super-miniaturized mechanical devices.

Novel Chemical Glucose Sensing Method Based on Boronic Acids and Graphene Foam

Since it is a chemical sensor instead of being enzyme-based, the new technology is robust, has a long shelf-life and can be tuned to detect lower glucose concentrations than current systems.

How Well Do You Know Nanotechnology?

How well do you know nanotechnology? Find out with this quiz?

Computer-Guided Drawing Machine Fabricates Paper Metamaterials

Scientists have developed a new technique for fabricating metamaterials from sheets of paper, using a computer to guide the movement of conductive ink pens and mechanical...

New Ultrathin Capacitor Could Enable Energy-Efficient Microchips

The silicon-based computer chips that power our modern devices require vast amounts of energy to operate. Despite ever-improving computing efficiency, information technology...

Strain-Sensing Smart Skin Ready to Deploy

A strain-sensing smart skin developed at Rice University uses very small carbon nanotube structures to monitor and detect damage in large structures. The “strain paint” uses the fluorescent...