Recent Patents on Nanotechnology - Volume 2, Issue 3, 2008

Nanofluidics is a relatively new area of research, generally viewed as the study of the behavior, manipulation, and control of fluids at nanometer (<100 nm) scales. At nanometer scales, fluids exhibit unique physical behaviors which are not present in larger structures. Nanofluidic structures have been successfully applied to technologies including analytical separations and the manipulation of proteins, RNA and DNA. There ar Read More

Trace detection of chemicals and biological species like industrial gases, proteins, drug molecules, and chemical warfare agents, is an important issue to human health and safety. Central to this issue is the development of high sensitivity, high selectivity, high stability and rapid detection chemical and bio-sensors. With special geometry and chemical and physical properties, one-dimensional (1-D) metal oxide nanostructur Read More

The simplicity of the electrospinning fabrication process, the diversity of electrospinnable materials, and the unique features associated with electrospun fibers make this technique and resultant structures attractive for various applications. The past few years witnessed the significant progresses in the application areas of electrospun fibers, which were demonstrated by the numbers of the recent published patents on Read More

Semiconductor photocatalysts with potential applications in splitting of water, degradation of toxic contaminant, and solar cells are very important research topics in recent years. In this short review, recent progresses of the synthesis and photocatalytic properties of highly functional nanostructured photocatalysts are briefly summarized. The patents for fabricating semiconductor photocatalysts are introduced in the fi Read More

The data on nanoflower-like nanostructures are generalized for several groups of inorganic compounds (carbon, elemental metals, their alloys and compounds with the elements of V and VI Groups of the Periodic Table), as well as for a few coordination and organic compounds. Their synthetic techniques include oxidation of elemental metals, reduction of metal salts, thermal decomposition of relatively unstable compounds, or Read More

Nanotechnology is one of the fastest developing new areas in science and technology. Ionizing radiation is widely applied for nanostructure synthesis and nanomaterials modification. The ability to fabricate structures with nanometric precision is of fundamental importance to any exploitation of nanotechnology. Nanofabrication involves various lithographies to write extremely small structures. An interesting field of Read More

Increasing need for portable nanoelectronic devices triggers the development of dimensionally small batteries. Nanobatteries are being designed for specific applications, including computer chips, micro-electromechanical systems (such as micro-actuators, micro-instruments, or micro-robots), or nanostructured medical devices. As the size of power source should be commensurate with the device it powers, battery min Read More

The kinetics of thermal degradation process on thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) adhesives with hydrophilic nanosilicas was studied using isothermal thermogravimetric analysis within the temperature range from 360 °C to 460 °C in nitrogen. The effect of nanosilicas with different hydrophilic degree in the thermoplastic polyurethanes was investigated. It was found that the thermoxidative degradation of polyuretha Read More

Full text available