2008 JUL 14 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to a study from Harbin, People's Republic of China, "Synthetic nanoscale motors represent a major step toward the development of practical nanomachines. Despite impressive progress, man-made nanomachines lack the efficiency and speed of their biological counterparts."

  "Here we show that the incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNT) into the platinum (Pt) component of asymmetric metal nanowire motors leads to dramatically accelerated movement in hydrogen-peroxide solutions, with average speeds (50-60 mu m/s) approaching those of natural biomolecular motors. Further acceleration-to 94 mu m/s, with some motors moving above 200 mu m/s-is observed upon adding hydrazine to the peroxide fuel. Factors influencing the accelerated movement, including the CNT loading and fuel concentration, are examined," wrote S.J. Li and colleagues ...read more

  2008 JUL 14 - (VerticalNews.com) -- According to a study from Cremona, Italy, "Halloysite aluminosilicate nanotubes with a 15 nm lumen, 50 nm external diameter, and length of 800 +/- 300 nm have been developed as an entrapment system for loading, storage, and controlled release of anticorrosion agents and biocides. Fundamental research to enable the control of release rates from hours to months is being undertaken."

  "By variation of internal fluidic properties, the formation of nanoshells over the nanotubes and by creation of smart caps at the tube ends it is possible to develop further means of controlling the rate of release. Anticorrosive halloysite coatings are in development and a self-healing approach has been developed for repair mechanisms through response activation to external impacts. In this Perspective, applications of halloysite as nanometer-scale containers are discussed, including the use of halloysite tubes as drug releasing agents, as biomimetic reaction vessels, and as additives in biocide and protective coatings," wrote I. Cattani and colleagues ...read more

  2008 JUL 14 - (VerticalNews.com) -- "To enhance the electrical performance of pentacene-based field-effect transistors (FETs) by tuning the surface-induced ordering of pentacene crystals, we controlled the physical interactions at the semiconductor/gate dielectric (SiO2) interface by inserting a hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer (SAM, CH3-terminal) of organoalkyl-silanes with an alkyl chain length of C8, C12, C16, or C18, as a complementary interlayer. We found that, depending on the physical structure of the dielectric surfaces, which was found to depend on the alkyl chain length of the SAM (ordered for C18 and disordered for C8), the pentacene nano-layers in contact with the SAM could adopt two competing crystalline phases - a ''thin-film phase'' and ''bulk phase'' - which affected the pi-conjugated nanostructures in the ultrathin and subsequently thick films," investigators in Marrakech, Morocco report ...read more