Nanoparticles, nanoshells, nanotubes: How tiny specks may provide powerful tools against cancer
They're but a tiny speck, existing in a variety of forms: particles, tubes, shells, even a soccerball-like shape. They also share a common prefix: "nano," connoting their size, a billionth of a meter or roughly 25-millionth of an inch. Today, cancer researchers are exploring the potential of such nanostructures to exquisitely target cancer cells without harming surrounding tissue, and to...Motorola researchers develop selective sensors based on carbon nanotubes
A team of researchers from Arizona State University and Motorola Labs, the applied research arm of Motorola Inc., has developed sensors based on carbon nanotubes, microscopically small structures that posses excellent electronic properties. In early tests, the new devices detected the presence of heavy metal ions in water down to parts per trillion levels. Specifically, the researchers de...'Gadonanotubes' greatly outperform existing MRI contrast agents
Researchers at Rice University, the Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland have created a new class of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents that are at least 40 times more effective than the best in clinical use. The new agents -- dubbed gadonanotubes -- use the same highly toxic metal, gadolinium, t...Nanotubes inspire new technique for healing broken bones
Scientists have shown for the first time that carbon nanotubes make an ideal scaffold for the growth of bone tissue. The new technique could change the way doctors treat broken bones, allowing them to simply inject a solution of nanotubes into a fracture to promote healing. The report appears in the June 14 issue of the American Chemical Society's journal Chemistry of Materials. ACS is the...Modifications render carbon nanotubes nontoxic
In follow-on work to last year's groundbreaking toxicological study on water-soluble buckyballs, researchers at Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN) find that water-soluble carbon nanotubes are significantly less toxic to begin with. Moreover, the research finds that nanotubes, like buckyballs, can be rendered nontoxic with minor chemical modifications.<...Novel Light Weight Polymers Made Up of Carbon Nanotubes
University of Virginia engineering professor Mool C. Gupta and his team have used carbon nanotubes to unite the virtues of plastics and metals in a new ultra-lightweight , conductive material that may revolutionize electromagnetic shielding and more. The team's innovation will be honored with a Nano50 award from Nanotech Briefs magazine, which recognizes the top 50 technologies, produ...