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Articles tagged with: ‘nanocrystals‘

Bionics»

New flexible mineral inspired by deep-sea sponges

By Damir Beciri
20 March 2013

flexible-minerals-1Inspired by structural elements found in most sea sponges, researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Germany have recreated the sponge spicules using the natural mineral calcium carbonate and a protein of the sponge. The resulting material is a synthetic hybrid which has almost 90… »

Tech»

New controllable infrared coating for windows developed

By Damir Beciri
10 September 2011

berkeley-lab-milleron-groupResearchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have unveiled a semiconductor nanocrystal coating material capable to control the amount of solar heat while remaining transparent. The technology is the first to selectively control the amount of near infrared radiation and it is based on electrochromic materials (which use… »

Bionics»

Self-sharpening sea urchin teeth may inspire ever-sharped tools

By Damir Beciri
3 Comments28 December 2010

sea-urchin-handIn order to survive in a tumultuous environment, sea urchins literally eat through stone. Sea urchins use their teeth to carve out nooks where they hide from predators and protect themselves from the waves. Despite constant grinding and scraping on stone, urchin teeth never get dull. This ability has puzzled scientists for decades, but researchers… »

Robotics| Tech»

WANDA robot – a new approach to nanocrystal manufacture

By Damir Beciri
27 April 2010

vanda-robot-produces-custom-colloidal-nanocrystalsBerkeley Lab scientists have made a nanocrystal-making robot, capable of producing nanocrystals with amazing precision. This robot, named WANDA (Workstation for Automated Nanomaterial Discovery and Analysis), provides colloidal nanocrystals with custom-made properties for electronics, biological labeling and luminescent devices. Since it is controlled by software protocols, it simplifies the process to novice users without extensive… »