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nanotimes News in Brief

a single, programmable nanoparticle to blend and deliver a combination of drugs for cancer treatment.

Nagesh Kolishetti, Shanta Dhar, Pedro M. Valencia, Lucy Q. Lin, Rohit Karnik, Stephen J. Lippard, Robert Langer, and Omid C. Farokhzad: Engineering of self-assembled nanoparticle platform for precisely controlled combina- tion drug therapy, In: PNAS, Vol. 107(2010), No. 42, October 19, 2010, pages 17939-17944, DOI:10.1073/ pnas.1011368107

http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1011368107

Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith- Newen (Institute for Physical Chemistry at Ruhr University Bochum) at the synchrotron light sour- ce (ANKA) of the Research Center Karlsruhe are working on an instrument that will be capable of quickly measuring the complete infrared and THz spectrum of a sample with a resolution in the nanometer range. Martina coordinates the joint project “Ultrasensitive Chemical Nanoscopy and Nano-Spectroscopy with THz and Infrared Synchro- tron Radiation at ANKA”, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with EUR 558,500.

“We can use our lasers to produce infrared and THz radiation, but ANKA offers stronger radiation in a broader spectrum. That way, the whole spectrum of a sample can be measured in one go. It’s also possible to investigate time-dependent processes like the phase transition of materials, segregation in the nanometer range, and reactions in biological samples such as membranes.

10-10/11 :: October/November 2010

Prof. Dr. Martina Havenith-Newen, Institute for Physical Chemistry at Ruhr University Bochum, Tel. +49 (0) 234 32 - 24249, Fax: +49 (0) 234 32 - 14183, martina.have- nith@rub.de http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pc2/

Researcher around Thomas Bein at Ludwig Maxi- milian University of Munich managed to develop a temperature-controlled valve system, which permits the targeted release of guest fluorescein molecules from the pores of colloidal mesoporous silica par- ticles. The pore-opening temperature depends on the length of double-stranded DNA linkers. Avidin proteins that are joined to the DNA by a biotin modification act as the molecular valve at the exits to the pores.

“The DNA molecules act as a valve whose tempe- rature sensitivity can be precisely controlled by the number of their compounds,” Bein explains. “The controlled release concept can be used in drugs.“

Axel Schlossbauer, Simon Warncke, Philipp M. E. Gram- lich, Johann Kecht, Antonio Manetto, Thomas Carell, Thomas Bein: A Programmable DNA-Based Molecular Valve for Colloidal Mesoporous Silica (p NA), In: An- gewandte Chemie International Edition, June 10, 2010, DOI:10.1002/anie.201000827: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201000827

A new class of solventless electrolytes was created by tethering ionic liquids to hard inorganic ZrO2

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nostructures. These hybrid fluids exhibit exceptional redox stability windows, excellent thermal stability, good lithium transference numbers, long-term in- terfacial stability in the presence of a lithium anode