11-09 :: September 2011

nanotimes News in Brief

The researchers developed a reversible, rewritable memory system that was able to retain information for more than 100 days. In this proof-of-concept design, the copper wires were one millimeter thick, though smaller diameter wire would allow for an increase in memory density and a reduction in weight. In practical applications, e-textiles would need to integrate a battery or power generator, sen- sors, and a computational element, as well as a me- mory structure. Taken together, an e-textile could potentially detect biomarkers for various diseases, monitor vital signs of the elderly or individuals in hostile environments, and then transmit that infor- mation to doctors.

Jin-Woo Han and M. Meyyappan: Copper oxide resistive switching memory for e-textile, In: AIP Advances, Vol. 1(2011), Issue 3, September 2011, Article 032162 [8 pages], DOI:10.1063/1.3645967: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3645967

51

membranes are spread over minuscule pits, each with a diameter of approximately two-hundredths of a millimeter. The authors demonstrate that they can use the chip to obtain the distributions of polymer sizes that are accurate to a single chain element. Currently, results of such precision require expensive equipment filling entire rooms.

Gerhard Baaken, Norbert Ankri, Anne-Katrin Schuler, Jürgen Rühe, and Jan C. Behrends: Nanopore-Based Sin- gle-Molecule Mass Spectrometry on a Lipid Membrane Microarray, In: ACS Nano ASAP, September 20, 2011, DOI:10.1021/nn202670z: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn202670z

Scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Swe- den, have shown that it is possible to sort and count the nanoparticles, even when they have formed aggregates.

In a joint project at the University of Freiburg, a research group led by Jan C. Behrends, Institute of Physiology, and scientists working under Jürgen Rühe, Department of Microsystems Technology (IMTEK, both Germany), have succeeded in ar- ranging nanopores on a tiny microchip and using it to determine the mass of chain-like molecules, so-called polymers, with a high degree of precision. In these experiments, the nanopores assume the role of the actual sensor. The biohybrid microsensor is made of biological and micro-technical parts and contains 16 miniaturized artificial cell membra- nes on only one square millimeter. The individual

“Nanoparticles are already used in many everyday products, such as sunscreen and cosmetics. It is important to be able to determine their size, shape and surface area, in order to be able to improve their properties within various areas of application,” says Ann-Cathrin Johnsson of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Gothenburg.

Ann-Cathrin Johnsson: On the Electrolyte Induced Ag- gregation of Concentrated Silica Dispersions – An Expe- rimental Investigation Using the Electrospray Technique: http://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/26662