Nano-Nascar? Tiny Dragster Has Chassis, Axles, & Buckyball Wheels | Discoblog

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rice_nanodragsterhiresBecause there’s no point in building a nanoscopic car that couldn’t crush other nanoscopic cars in a race, Rice University scientists have rolled out their best and baddest “nanodragster” ever. The car, 1/25,000th the size of a human hair, not only has a freely moving chassis but also can turn when one of its wheels is up in the air.

James Tour and his team previously made tiny cars that used carbon-60 molecules called “buckyballs” as wheels, but those wheels could turn on only hot surfaces, about 200 degrees Celsius. No longer. From Futurity.org:

The key to making nanodragsters, Tour says, was putting p-carborane wheels in the front and buckyballs in the back, getting the advantages of both. The front wheels roll easier, while the buckyballs grip the gold roadway well enough to be imaged by Kevin Kelly, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. And the vehicle operates at a much lower temperature than previous nanovehicles.

“The trick to making these nanocars was to attach the smaller wheels first, then deactivate their reactive ends through carbon group attachments that we called ’scythes,’ much like blades on the centers of classical chariot wheels,” Tour says. “Then we could affix the larger C60 wheels to the rear axle.”

No word yet whether any potential nano-races will allow dragsters to gouge each other with those scythes, a la Ben-Hur.

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Image: Rice University


Molecular capture with protein nanotechnology

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In many biomedical applications, protein nanotubes present several advantages over nanospheres. The layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition technique for the preparation of protein nanotubes has attracted considerable attention because of their potential nanotechnology applications in enzymatic nanocatalysts, bioseparation nanofilters, and targeting nanocarriers. A drawback is that in template synthesis the extraction process often results in physical deformation of the nanotubes. Researchers in Japan have now developed a new procedure using specific solvent and freeze-drying technique. They describe for the first time molecular capturing properties of protein nanotubes with a controllable affinity and size selectivity.

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Tegal Receives Follow-on Order for 981ACS Plasma Etch System from Leading Hard Disk Drive Manufacturer

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Tegal Corporation, an innovator of specialized production solutions for the fabrication of advanced MEMS, power ICs and optoelectronic devices, today announced that it has received a repeat order for a 981ACS plasma etch system from a leading hard disk drive manufacturer to support a critical capacity expansion for magnetic data storage device fabrication.

Meta-Roadmap Nanomaterialien

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Vorrangiges Ziel dieser Roadmap, die im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums fuer Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) erarbeitet wurde, ist die Unterstuetzung aller Akteure aus Forschung, Industrie und Politik bei der mittelfristigen strategischen Ausrichtung zukuenftiger Aktivitaeten zur Erforschung und Entwicklung innovativer Nanomaterialien zum Einsatz in verschiedenen Anwendungsfeldern.