11-02/03 :: February / March 2011

nanotimes News in Brief

important for medicines that are taken orally (i.e. by mouth) and dissolve poorly in water. This relates to 40% of all medicines currently in development. De Waard indicates that the pharmaceutical industry is looking at this new nanotechnology with considera- ble interest.

“Certain medicines fail in the development phase, although they might have considerable potential if they were only able to dissolve better,” said De Waard. “Moreover, currently only a small portion of a medicine enters the patient‘s bloodstream, which means that a doctor has to prescribe a much higher dose that is actually necessary. Such a high dose means that there is an even greater chance of side effects.”

This research forms part of a broader research pro- ject at Top Institute Pharma into greater efficacy of medicines for brain disease. This project‘s partners include Abbott Healthcare Products BV, Radboud University Nijmegen, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, University Medical Center Gronin- gen, the University of Groningen, Leiden University, and Utrecht University.

http://www.tipharma.com

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nal Laboratory has discovered a method that could dramatically cut the amount of heat needed during processing, reducing the amount of energy needed during a key processing step by at least 10%. The research team believes the discovery could ultima- tely lead to a more cost-effective way of tapping into extremely “sour” natural gas reserves – those reserves that contain significant amounts of hydro- gen sulfide and that may not have been economic- ally viable to tap up to this point. Battelle operates the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for DOE.

The new, Battelle-created process called Anti- solvent Swing Regeneration takes advantage of hydrogen sulfide‘s ability to dissolve better in some liquids than others at room temperatures. In this process, the hydrogen sulfide “swings” between different liquids during the processing at nearly room temperature, resulting in its removal, in just a few steps, from liquids that can be reused again and again.

Phillip K. Koech, James E. Rainbolt, Mark D. Bearden, Feng Zheng, David J. Heldebrant: Chemically Selective Gas Sweetening Without Thermal-Swing Regeneration, In: Energy & Environmental Science, Advance Article, DOI:10.1039/c0ee00839g: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c0ee00839g

Natural gas extracted from the nation‘s coal beds and methane-rich geologic features must first be purged of hydrogen sulfide before it can be used as fuel. Until now, processing methods have often proved to be inefficient, requiring large amounts of heat. But a team of Battelle researchers at the Department of Energy‘s Pacific Northwest Natio-

The Molecular Biomechanics research group (head: Dr. Frauke Graeter) of the Heidelberg In- stitute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) explores how physical force interacts with molecular processes using computer based methods. One of its research topics is the fascinating property of silk, which is