Monthly Archives: February 2015

Canada’s Green Earth Nano Science expands into the European Union

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It’s nice to learn of another Canadian ‘nanotechnology’ company. According to a Feb. 6, 2015 news item on Nanotechnology Now, Toronto-based Green Earth Nano Science has recently received some very good business news,

Green Earth Nano Science has signed an Exclusive Distribution Agreement with CleanShield Denmark to bring GENS NANO and SOLARSTUCCO self-cleaning coatings, and AGRIHIT biodegradable cleaners, organic plant based disinfectants, and sanitizers into Denmark, Sweden, Norway and German markets.

A Feb. 1, 2015 Green Earth Nano Science news release, which originated the news item, describes the deal in more detail,

Green Earth Nano Science, Inc., (GENS) from Toronto, Canada is one of the first of the new class of global companies specializing in investment, commercialization, manufacturing, and distribution of new sustainable green environmental technologies. GENS have recently expanded its marketplace to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany through Danish company CleanShield by signing Exclusive License Distribution Agreement for distribution and application of its Gens Nano & SolarStucco branded self-cleaning, anti-bacterial coatings, and AgriHit branded organic disinfectants & sanitizers, natural bio degradable cleaners, natural foliar fertilizers & plant growth & health enhancers.

CleanShield, a Denmark Company, is a growing corporation with an existing applicator and sales networks with customers in key Denmark industrial and hospitality segments. CleanShield has strong capabilities to develop sales distribution and application networks through their connection and relationships with many local businesses, government, health care and hospitality facilities plus building maintenance companies. Green technology products portfolio offered by Green Earth Nano Science, Inc. focuses on constant improvements through commercialization of path breaking technologies that benefit the environment as well as people. Many industries benefit from GENS natural products and environmental solutions, including farming, food, health care, hospitality, commercial and residential industries.

Miroslaw Chrzaniecki, VP from Green Earth Nano Science, Inc. stated: “We are energized with opportunity to serve and expend in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and German territories. Looking just at Denmark, it is one of the World’s richest countries, home to various types of industries including big agricultural production companies making it an ideal frontier for expansion. To add to this fact, Denmark’s principal exports: machinery, instruments, food products, industrial machinery, chemical products, furniture, pharmaceuticals, and canned ham and pork can all benefit GENS’s Green 3D Shield bio security system that works wonders by utilizing herbal natural cleaning technologies. Local farmers as mentioned by Mr. Chrzaniecki can also take advantage of the revolutionary AgriHit Plant Growth & Health Enhancer, made from plant extracts when applied diluted with water on the plant leafs help plants to fight off diseases, repel small insects, fungi attacks. [emphasis mine] Other products we introduce in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany are our natural cleaners, organic sanitizers; natural self-cleaning and self-sanitizing antibacterial coatings will benefit many businesses and even home clients as well. For example e-coil, salmonella and other potential devastating outbreaks within food manufactures can be prevented or reduced by application of GENS NANO self sanitizing coating. Hotels and office building and homes can be made as allergy free by treating A/C systems and regular use of food safe, long lasting AgriHit organic disinfectants and by using our plant based antibacterial cleaners in daily cleaning routines. I can talk for hours about many different benefits that together with our exclusive license partners we will introduce in Europe.” opines Miroslaw Chrzaniecki, VP of Green Earth Nano Science, Inc.

On the other hand, Mr. Thomas Gregersen Bowmann, Director of CleanShield shares the same enthusiasm and excitement saying “Now by signing Exclusive Territory Licensing agreement with Canadian company Green Earth Nano Science Inc. we are on the forefront of green revolution in Denmark. With a professional team ready to happily serve and offer these green infection control solutions using GENS’s reliable green-products such as SolarStucco, AgriHit and 3D Shield bio security systems can help sustain our loyal clients’ needs to achieve great savings and reducing outbreak problems while protecting the environment. Crews are experienced and well trained and we are very happy to be able to offer green infection control solutions and implement Green 3D Shield bio security system in their facilities. With the introduction of environment friendly, natural products, we will help our clients to achieve great savings for the whole different industries and also reduce problems associated with outbreaks at the same time. We will be implementing an aggressive marketing strategy to explore all business opportunities in Denmark.”

The AgriHit product, the part about “repel small insects, fungi attacks,” reminds me of Vive Crop Protection (another Toronto-based ‘nano’ company) and its product line. I last mentioned that company in a Nov. 21, 2014 post about the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities.

Getting back to the matter at hand, congratulations to Green Earth Nano Science! You can find out more about CleanShield here, provided you have Danish language skills. For anyone particularly interested in AgriHit (the Green Earth Nano Science [GENS] product), it has its own website here. One comment, I found the GENS website organization a little confusing. I advise checking both the Solutions tab and the Products tab if you’re interested in learning more about their products, as well as, visiting the AgriHit website.

Biophysics and molecular gastronomy (comme les français)

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It’s a bit of a stretch as the presenter himself admits but there is a connection to be made between molecular gastronomy and biophysics according to a Feb. 9, 2015 news release on EurkeAlert,

Anyone who’s ever been to France knows it’s a country that celebrates its food and takes enormous pride in not only the taste, but also the appearance and the overall “joie de vivre” involved. So it should come as no surprise that scientific disciplines like biophysics are being embraced for their ability to reveal the underlying physical and chemical processes that occur during food preparation and consumption.

During the Biophysical Society’s 59th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Md., Feb. 7-11, 2015, Christophe Lavelle, an expert in biophysics, epigenetics and food science who works for the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, will describe his research dedicated to gaining a deeper understanding of genome compaction within the cells in our bodies and the way it influences gene expression.

“While the link with cooking may not be immediately obvious, when you realize that not only are food transformations and gene expression both a matter of macromolecule structure and dynamics, but also that the types of food you choose to eat influence the expression of your genes, then you have two good reasons to be interested in molecular gastronomy and genome mechanics,” said Lavelle. [emphasis mine]

The study of molecular biology got its start in the 1930s when physicists and chemists became interested in exploring life at its most fundamental level. Forty years later, Hungarian physicist Nicolas Kurti exclaimed: “It is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do measure the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus we do not know what goes on inside our soufflés.” [emphasis mine]

This paved the way for what Kurti and his French colleague Hervé This called “molecular gastronomy,” dedicated to the study of the physical and chemical processes involved in cooking and eating.

Kurti’s exclamation seems almost French or perhaps this devotion to food is an aspect of Hungarian culture heretofore unknown to me. In any event, the theme is developed somewhat further by Lavelle,

“Biophysics can be defined as an interdisciplinary science using concepts and methods of physics to study biological matter,” explains Lavelle. “So biophysics can naturally help us to understand what’s occurring when we cook.”

An egg white is 90 percent water, for example, but if you put it in the microwave for 10 seconds, although it remains 90 percent water its form changes enough so that you could bite into it. “There is obviously a lot of physics happening here,” Lavelle noted.

Another quick example that most of us know is that when you slice into an apple it quickly starts to turn brown. But to avoid this, you can sprinkle it with lemon juice. “This time, some chemistry is probably involved,” he said. “And since eggs, apples and lemon all come from nature, biology is obviously involved also!”

“These are just a few examples to introduce soft — and sometimes living — matter,” Lavelle pointed out. “Taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines biopolymer physics, thermodynamics, physiology and macromolecule biochemistry — among other subjects — can help us to better understand culinary phenomena and ultimately influence the way we cook and what we choose to eat.”

Food transformation and consumption phenomena also tend to generate puzzling questions, which Lavelle believes are actually “promising and appetizing” opportunities to raise interest in science and improve health among students and the general public.

The next step is to “merge human sciences with ‘hard’ sciences to reach a truly interdisciplinary knowledge of food — following the Brillat-Savarin definition of gastronomy as ‘the knowledge of all that relates to man as he eats,'” said Lavelle.

Sadly, it’s too late to attend Lavelle’s Feb. 9, 2015 presentation, “Delicious Biophysics: Cooking as a Prolific Support to Teach Biophysical Concepts”, at the 59th annual meeting of the Biophysical Society, Feb. 7 – 11, 2015.

From monitoring glucose in kidneys to climate change in trees

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That headline is almost poetic but I admit It’s a bit of a stretch rhymewise, kidneys/trees. In any event, a Feb. 6, 2015 news item on Azonano describes research into monitoring the effects of climate change on trees,

Serving as a testament to the far-reaching impact of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s commitment to maintaining New York State’s global leadership in nanotechnology innovation, SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE) today announced the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $837,000 to support development of a first of its kind nanoscale sensor to monitor the effects of climate change on trees.

A Feb. 5, 2015 SUNY Poly CNSE news release, which originated the news item, provides more details including information about the sensor’s link to measuring glucose in kidneys,

The NSF grant was generated through the Instrument Development for Biological Research (IDBR) program, which provides funds to develop new classes of devices for bio-related research. The NANAPHID, a novel aphid-like nanosensor, will provide real-time measurements of carbohydrates in live plant tissue. Carbohydrate levels in trees are directly connected to plant productivity, such as maple sap production and survival. The NANAPHID will enable researchers to determine the effects of a variety of environmental changes including temperature, precipitation, carbon dioxide, soil acidity, pests and pathogens. The nanosensor can also provide real-time monitoring of sugar concentration levels, which are of signficant importance in maple syrup production and apple and grape farming.

“The technology for the NANAPHID is rooted in a nanoscale sensor SUNY Poly CNSE developed to monitor glucose levels in human kidneys being prepared for transplant. Our team determined that certain adjustments would enable the sensor to provide similar monitoring for plants, and provide a critical insight to the effects of climate change on the environment,” said Dr. James Castracane, professor and head of the Nanobioscience Constellation at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. “This is a perfect example of the cycle of innovation made possible through the ongoing nanotechnology research and development at SUNY Poly CNSE’s NanoTech Complex.”

“This new sensor will be used in several field experiments on measuring sensitivity of boreal forest to climate warming. Questions about forest response to rising air and soil temperatures are extremely important for forecasting future atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, climate change and forest health,” said Dr. Andrei Lapenas, principal investigator and associate professor of climatology at the University at Albany. “At the same time, we already see some potential commercial application for NANAPHID-type sensors in agriculture, food industry and other fields. Our collaboration with SUNY Poly CNSE has been extremely productive and I look forward to continuing our work together.”

The NANAPHID project began in 2014 with a $135,000 SUNY Research Foundation Network of Excellence grant. SUNY Poly CNSE will receive $400,000 of the NSF award for the manufacturing aspects of the sensor array development and testing. The remaining funds will be shared between Dr. Lapenas and researchers Dr. Ruth Yanai (ESF), Dr. Thomas Horton (ESF), and Dr. Pamela Templer (Boston University) for data collection and analysis.

“With current technology, analyzing carbohydrates in plant tissues requires hours in the lab or more than $100 a sample if you want to send them out. And you can’t sample the same tissue twice, the sample is destroyed in the analysis,” said Dr. Yanai. “The implantable device will be cheap to produce and will provide continuous monitoring of sugar concentrations, which is orders of magnitude better in both cost and in the information provided. Research questions we never dreamed of asking before will become possible, like tracking changes in photosynthate over the course of a day or along the stem of a plant, because it’s a nondestructive assay.”

“I see incredible promise for the NANAPHID device in plant ecology. We can use the sensors at the root tip where plants give sugars to symbiotic fungi in exchange for soil nutrients,” said Dr. Horton. “Some fungi are believed to be significant carbon sinks because they produce extensive fungal networks in soils and we can use the sensors to compare the allocation of photosynthate to roots colonized by these fungi versus the allocation to less carbon demanding fungi. Further, the vast majority of these symbiotic fungi cannot be cultured in lab. These sensors will provide valuable insights into plant-microbe interactions under field conditions.”

“The creation of this new sensor will make understanding the effects of a variety of environmental changes, including climate change, on the health and productivity of forests much easier to measure,” said Dr. Templer. “For the first time, we will be able to measure concentrations of carbohydrates in living trees continuously and in real-time, expanding our ability to examine controls on photosynthesis, sap flow, carbon sequestration and other processes in forest ecosystems.”

Fascinating, eh? I wonder who made the connection between human kidneys and plants and how that person made the connection.

Zebras, Turing patterns, and the Polish Academy of Sciences

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A Feb. 6, 2015 news item on Azonano profiles some research from the Polish Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physical Chemistry (IPC PAS),

In the world of single atoms and molecules governed by chaotic fluctuations, is the spontaneous formation of Turing patterns possible – the same ones that are responsible for the irregular yet periodic shapes of the stripes on zebras’ bodies? A Polish-Danish team of physicists has for the first time demonstrated that such a process can not only occur, but can also be used for potentially very interesting applications.

A Feb. 6, 2015 IPC PAS press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, describes Turing’s patterns and the research in more detail,

Everyone is familiar with a zebra’s stripes, but not everyone knows that these are the manifestations of chemical reactions taking place according to a process first described by the famous British mathematician Alan Turing, the creator of the basics of today’s computer science. Turing patterns, most commonly displayed in chemistry as periodic changes in the concentration of chemical substances, have hitherto only been observed in dimensions of microns or larger. It seemed that on a smaller scale – at the nanoscale, where random fluctuations rule the movement of single atoms and molecules – these patterns do not have the right to form spontaneously.

“So far, no-one has even studied the possibility of the formation of Turing patterns by single atoms or molecules. However, our results show that Turing nanostructures may exist. And since this is the case, we will be able to find very specific applications for them in nanotechnology and materials science,” says Dr. Bogdan Nowakowski from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IPC PAS) in Warsaw, one of the physicists in the Polish-Danish team that has recently conducted computer simulations and theoretical analyses on Turing nanostructures.

Turing patterns occur in dynamic systems far from a state of equilibrium. Under the appropriate conditions there may then be a feedback mechanism: chemical reactions taking place may influence the concentration of their own components, which in turn may change the course of the reaction itself. The process leads to the formation of periodic, but not necessarily monotonously regular patterns. In nature, these patterns play an important role, particularly in the formation of young organisms (morphogenesis). For example, in the initial phases of the development of vertebrate embryos, this is how periodic segments, somites, are formed in the dorsal mesoderm, which are later converted into, among others, vertebrae, components of the spine.

“In our studies we considered very simple reactions of two model substances with different rates of diffusion. Computer simulations carried out using molecular dynamics, in collaboration with Dr. Jesper Hansen from the Danish University of Roskilde, gave rise to a very interesting picture,” says Dr. Piotr Dziekan (IPC PAS).

Clear and permanent patterns formed spontaneously in the simulated systems (of nanometer dimensions) – periodic changes in the density of molecules, which remained stable despite the destructive influence of fluctuations. It turned out that one cycle of concentration changes within the Turing pattern could appear on a length of just 20 molecules.

For Turing nanostructures to be formed, chemical reactions satisfying certain conditions have to take place between the chemical substances. This requirement severely reduces the number of compounds that can participate in the process and, consequently, severely limits the potential applications. However, the simulations carried out by the Polish-Danish team suggest that Turing nanostructures can quite easily be transferred to other compounds, not participating directly in the main reaction.

“Turing nanostructures can only arise with carefully selected chemical substances. Fortunately, the pattern formed by them can be ‘imprinted’ in the concentration of other chemical compounds. For the pattern to be copied, these compounds must fulfill only two simple conditions: they must bind to one of the reactants of the main reaction and diffuse slowly,” explains Dr. Dziekan.

This work is theoretical as the final paragraph of the press release intimates,

The possibility of forming Turing patterns on nanometer distances opens the door to interesting applications, particularly in the field of surface modification of materials. By skillfully selecting the chemical composition of the reagents and the conditions in which the reaction occurs, it could be possible to form Turing patterns in two dimensions (on the same surface of the material), or three (also in the space adjacent to the surface). The formed patterns could then be fixed, e.g. by photopolymerisation, thereby obtaining a permanent, stable, extended surface with a complex, periodic structure.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Nanoscale Turing structures by Piotr Dziekan. J. S. Hansen, and Bogdan Nowakowski. J. Chem. Phys. 141, 124106 (2014); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4895907

This paper is behind a paywall.

Nanoparticles in 3D courtesy of x-rays

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A Feb. 4, 2015 Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) press release (also on EurekAlert) announces a 3D first,

For the first time, a German-American research team has determined the three-dimensional shape of free-flying silver nanoparticles, using DESY’s X-ray laser FLASH. The tiny particles, hundreds of times smaller than the width of a human hair, were found to exhibit an unexpected variety of shapes, as the physicists from the Technical University (TU) Berlin, the University of Rostock, the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the United States and from DESY report in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Besides this surprise, the results open up new scientific routes, such as direct observation of rapid changes in nanoparticles.

The press release goes on to describe the work in more detail,

“The functionality of nanoparticles is linked to their geometric form, which is often very difficult to determine experimentally,” explains Dr. Ingo Barke from the University of Rostock. “This is particularly challenging when they are present as free particles, that is, in the absence of contact with a surface or a liquid.”

The nanoparticle shape can be revealed from the characteristic way how it scatters X-ray light. Therefore, X-ray sources like DESY’s FLASH enable a sort of super microscope into the nano-world. So far, the spatial structure of nanoparticles has been reconstructed from multiple two-dimensional images, which were taken from different angles. This procedure is uncritical for particles on solid substrates, as the images can be taken from many different angles to uniquely reconstruct their three-dimensional shape.

“Bringing nanoparticles into contact with a surface or a liquid can significantly alter the particles, such that you can no longer see their actual form,” says Dr. Daniela Rupp from the TU Berlin. A free particle, however, can only be measured one time in flight before it either escapes or is destroyed by the intense X-ray light. Therefore, the scientists looked for a way to record the entire structural information of a nanoparticle with a single X-ray laser pulse.

To achieve this goal, the scientists led by Prof. Thomas Möller from the TU Berlin and Prof. Karl-Heinz Meiwes-Broer and Prof. Thomas Fennel from the University of Rostock employed a trick. Instead of taking usual small-angle scattering images, the physicists recorded the scattered X-rays in a wide angular range. “This approach virtually captures the structure from many different angles simultaneously from a single laser shot,” explains Fennel.

The researchers tested this method on free silver nanoparticles with diameters of 50 to 250 nanometres (0.00005 to 0.00025 millimetres). The experiment did not only verify the feasibility of the tricky method, but also uncovered the surprising result that large nanoparticles exhibit a much greater variety of shapes than expected.

The shape of free nanoparticles is a result of different physical principles, particularly the particles’ effort to minimize their energy. Consequently, large particles composed of thousands or millions of atoms often yield predictable shapes, because the atoms can only be arranged in a particular way to obtain an energetically favourable state.

In their experiment, however, the researchers observed numerous highly symmetrical three-dimensional shapes, including several types known as Platonic and Archimedean bodies. Examples include the truncated octahedron (a body consisting of eight regular hexagons and six squares) and the icosahedron (a body made up of twenty equilateral triangles). The latter is actually only favourable for extremely small particles consisting of few atoms, and its occurrence with free particles of this size was previously unknown. “The results show that metallic nanoparticles retain a type of memory of their structure, from the early stages of growth to a yet unexplored size range,” emphasizes Barke.

Due to the large variety of shapes, it was especially important to use a fast computational method so that the researchers were capable of mapping the shape of each individual particle. The scientists used a two-step process: the rough shape was determined first and then refined using more complex simulations on a super computer. This approach turned out to be so efficient that it could not only determine various shapes reliably, but could also differentiate between varying orientations of the same shape.

This new method for determining the three-dimensional shape and orientation of nanoparticles with a single X-ray laser shot opens up a wide spectrum of new research directions. In future projects, particles could be directly “filmed” in three dimensions during growth or during phase changes. “The ability to directly film the reaction of a nanoparticle to an intense flash of X-ray light has been a dream for many physicists – this dream could now come true, even in 3D!,” emphasises Rupp.

The researchers have provided an image showing their work,

Caption: This is a wide-angle X-ray diffraction image of a truncated twinned tetrahedra nanoparticle. Credit: Hannes Hartmann/University of Rostock

Caption: This is a wide-angle X-ray diffraction image of a truncated twinned tetrahedra nanoparticle.
Credit: Hannes Hartmann/University of Rostock

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

The 3D-architecture of individual free ​silver nanoparticles captured by X-ray scattering by Ingo Barke, Hannes Hartmann, Daniela Rupp, Leonie Flückiger, Mario Sauppe, Marcus Adolph, Sebastian Schorb, Christoph Bostedt, Rolf Treusch, Christian Peltz, Stephan Bartling, Thomas Fennel, Karl-Heinz Meiwes-Broer, & Thomas Möller. Nature Communications 6, Article number: 6187 doi:10.1038/ncomms7187 Published 04 February 2015

This article is open access.

A Nanorama Laboratory

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The last Nanorama project featured here was the Nanorama Car Workshop in a Sept. 24, 2014 post. According to a Feb. 4, 2015 news item on Nanotechnology Now, there’s a new project,

The “Nanorama Laboratory”, an interactive online tool on the safe handling of nanomaterials, is now available in English on nano.dguv.de/nanorama/bgrci/en/. The tool, developed in close collaboration with the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the raw materials and chemical industry (BG RCI), was devised by the Innovation Society, St. Gallen. It is part of the nano-platform “Safe Handling of Nanomaterials” of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV).

A Feb. 4, 2015 The Innovation Society press release, which originated the news item, expands on the topic,

The “Nanorama Laboratory“ http://nano.dguv.de/nanorama/bgrci/en/ is one of three interactive educational tools available on the Nano-Platform “Safe Handling of Nanomaterials“ (http://nano.dguv.de; to date, the platform and the remaining “Nanoramas” are available in German). The “Nanorama Laboratory” was developed by the Innovation Society, St. Gallen, in close collaboration with the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the raw materials and chemical industry (BG RCI). It offers insights into the safe handling of nanomaterials and installations used to manufacture or process nanomaterials in laboratories. Complementary to hazard evaluation assessments, it enables users to assess the occupational exposure to nanomaterials and to identify necessary protective measures when handling said materials in laboratories.

The Innovation Society offers an image from the latest Nanorama made available in English,

Courtesy: The Innovation Society

Courtesy: The Innovation Society

Philippe Starck’s luggage goes nano

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For anyone unfamiliar with Philippe Starck, there’s this from his Wikipedia entry (Note: Links have been removed),

Philippe Starck is a French designer[1] who has become widely known since the start of his career in the 1980s[2] for his interior, product, industrial and architectural design work.

A minimalist, Starck’s work is ‘stark’. In an interesting publicity campaign, his latest collection of travel gear is mentioned in a Feb. 4, 2015 news item on Nanotechnology Now,

In association with Philippe Starck, renowned French creator, designer and architect, DELSEY is reinventing the world of travel with the launch of STARCKTRIP, a new collection of luggage conceived on a single concept: intelligence in motion. Bold, original and innovative, leaving the fickle constraints of fashion behind to embrace timelessness.

The launch for this line was originally announced in an Oct. 9, 2014 Starck press release which includes a bit about the nanotechnology-enabled features of this luggage,

HIGH TECH DISCRETION
The materials used take advantage of the latest technological innovations but manage to be discrete about it. Nanotechnology is used to protect the bags and
cases, inside and out, from dirt and bacteria; fabric screens also protect against data theft; gentle plastic moulded material provides unparalleled rolling comfort, smoothness and silence. In addition, anti-rain treatment of the surfaces ensures that you, the business traveller, keep your belongings dry at all times. [emphases mine]

I’m not sure about the dirt but the protection from bacteria makes it sound like they’ve added nanoscale silver to the luggage and the anti-rain treatment sounds like a nanotechnology-enabled superhydrophobic coating of some kind. Unfortunately there are no details to be had on either Philippe Starck’s website or on the Delsey website. BTW, the middle-aged male model in the Starck press release, is M. Philippe Starck himself.

Rice University collaborates with Shandong University on a Joint Center for Carbon Nanomaterials

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They’re not billing this as a joint US-China project but with Rice University being in Texas, US and Shandong University being in Shandong (province) in China, I think it’s reasonable to describe it that way. Here’s more about the project from a Feb. 4, 2015 news item on Azonano,

Scientists from Rice University and Shandong University, China, celebrated the opening of the Joint Center for Carbon Nanomaterials, a collaborative facility to study nanotechnology, on Feb. 1 [2015].

Rice faculty members Pulickel Ajayan and Jun Lou, the chair and associate chair, respectively, of the university’s Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, took part in the ceremony along with Rice alumnus Lijie Ci, director of the new center and a professor of materials science and engineering at Shandong. The center’s dedication was part of the first International Workshop on Engineering and Applications of Nanocarbon, held Jan. 31-Feb. 2 [2015].

Determining where this new center is located proved to be a challenge. From a Feb. 2, 2015 Rice University news release, which originated the news item,

“We at Rice University are excited and honored to collaborate with Shandong University on this important endeavor,” Rice President David Leebron said in a message recorded for the ceremony. [emphasis mine] “The center represents and combines two very important initiatives for Rice: research excellence and applications in nanosciences and long-term partnerships with the best institutions worldwide.”

“A lot of people are working on carbon nanoscience on both campuses, and we expect they will be interested in taking part,” Ajayan said. “Nanotubes and graphene are essentially the building blocks for the center, but Lijie wants to build ecologically relevant, applied research that can be commercialized. That’s the long-term goal. All of the experience we have had in the area will be beneficial.”

Ajayan expects students from both universities will travel. “People from Rice will be engaged in some of the activities of this joint center, including advising students there. And we hope Shandong students will have the opportunity to come to Rice for a short time,” he said. “The center also contributes to Rice’s goal to build closer connections with China.” [emphases mine]

Ajayan and Ci came to Rice together in 2007 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Ajayan was a faculty member and Ci was a postdoctoral researcher. At Rice, they introduced the darkest material ever measured at the time of its invention in 2008, an accomplishment that landed them in the Guinness Book of World Records.

They also collaborated on the first two-dimensional material to incorporate graphene and hexagonal boron nitride in a seamless lattice. Such 2-D materials have since become the focus of worldwide research for their potential as electronic components. And Ci, Lou and Ajayan worked together to study the nanoscale friction properties of carbon nanotubes.

I’m inferring from the portions I’ve highlighted that this center is located at Shandong University.

More mangoes thanks to an Indian-Sri Lankan-Canadian nanotechnologyresearch project

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I’ve been wondering what happened since I posted about this ‘mango’ project some years ago (my June 21, 2012 posting and my Nov. 1, 2012 posting) so, it’s nice to get an update from this Fresh Fruit Portal Feb. 4, 2015 posting,

Developed by Canadian, Indian and Sri Lankan researchers in a collaborative project funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the nanotech mango boxes are said to improve the fruit’s resilience and therefore boost quality over long shipping distances.

The project – which also includes the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India and the Industrial Technical Institute, Sri Lanka – has tested the use of the bio-compound hexanal, an artificially synthesized version of a natural substance produced by injured plants to reduce post-harvest losses.

…

The nanotech boxes could be particularly significant for India as a world leader in mango production, as well as Sri Lanka where approximately 90,000 metric tons (MT) are produced annually.

The IDRC report says although South Asian fruit production is globally competitive, the region only meets around half of its demand due to poor processing and preservation facilities. Waste can be as high as 35% and amounts to billions of dollars in annual losses.

Historically, the Indian mango sector has suffered severe post-harvest loses due to the lack of cold chain supply infrastructure across the country, and developing a smart packing system like nanotech boxes could therefore be one way to address such challenges.

“Special boxes have been designed to reduce losses during transport. The boxes are sturdy, and can be stacked without risking damage to the fruit, and this alone can reduce post-harvest losses by 10-15%,” the IDRC report continues.

“In order to further improve the storage life of fruits during transport, the project has made a pioneering attempt to develop ‘nano-matrices’ using banana fibers to regulate the release of hexanal.

…

I wasn’t able to find much more about the project which ended in August 2014 but there is new work being funded as per a Jan. 23, 2015 IDRC news release,

Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) today announced three new projects to be supported under the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF). The projects will help prevent livestock diseases and post-harvest fruit losses that affect millions of farmers around the world, and build on the successful research carried out during CIFSRF’s first phase. [emphasis mine]

…

  • Researchers from the University of Guelph, Canada, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India, and the Industrial Technical Institute, Sri Lanka, have shown that a natural compound known as hexanal delays the ripening of mangos. Using nanotechnology, the team will continue to develop hexanal-impregnated packaging and biowax coatings to improve the fruit’s resilience during handling and shipping for use in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. It will also expand its research to include other fruit and look at ways to commercialize the technologies.

New funding will allow the research teams to further develop the new technologies and involve partners who can bring them to market to reach greater numbers of small-holder farmers.

It seems this new round of funding will help bring these nanotechnology-enabled products to market.

Graphene with a pentagonal pattern

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Graphene has been viewed, until now, as having an hexgonal (six-sided) pattern. However, researchers have discovered a new graphene pattern according to a Feb. 3, 2015 news item on Nanowerk,

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and universities in China and Japan have discovered a new structural variant of carbon called “penta-graphene” – a very thin sheet of pure carbon that has a unique structure inspired by a pentagonal pattern of tiles found paving the streets of Cairo.

The newly discovered material, called penta-graphene, is a single layer of carbon pentagons that resembles the Cairo tiling, and that appears to be dynamically, thermally and mechanically stable.

A Feb. 3, 2015 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) news release by Brian McNeill (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more information about the research,

“The three last important forms of carbon that have been discovered were fullerene, the nanotube and graphene. Each one of them has unique structure. Penta-graphene will belong in that category,” said the paper’s senior author, Puru Jena, Ph.D., distinguished professor in the Department of Physics in VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences.

…

Qian Wang, Ph.D., a professor at Peking University and an adjunct professor at VCU, was dining in a restaurant in Beijing with her husband when she noticed artwork on the wall depicting pentagon tiles from the streets of Cairo.

“I told my husband, “Come, see! This is a pattern composed only of pentagons,'” she said. “I took a picture and sent it to one of my students, and said, ‘I think we can make this. It might be stable. But you must check it carefully.’ He did, and it turned out that this structure is so beautiful yet also very simple.”

Most forms of carbon are made of hexagonal building blocks, sometimes interspersed with pentagons. Penta-graphene would be a unique two-dimensional carbon allotrope composed exclusively of pentagons.

Along with Jena and Wang, the paper’s authors include Shunhong Zhang, Ph.D candidate, from Peking University; Jian Zhou, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at VCU; Xiaoshuang Chen, Ph.D., from the Chinese Academy of Science in Shanghai; and Yoshiyuki Kawazoe, Ph.D., from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.

The researchers simulated the synthesis of penta-graphene using computer modelling. The results suggest that the material might outperform graphene in certain applications, as it would be mechanically stable, possess very high strength, and be capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Kelvin.

“You know the saying, diamonds are forever? That’s because it takes a lot of energy to convert diamond back into graphite,” Jena said. “This will be similar.”

Penta-graphene has several interesting and unusual properties, Jena said. For example, penta-graphene is a semiconductor, whereas graphene is a conductor of electricity.

“When you take graphene and roll it up, you make what is called a carbon nanotube which can be metallic or semiconducting,” Jena said. “Penta-graphene, when you roll it up, will also make a nanotube, but it is always semiconducting.”

The way the material stretches is also highly unusual, the researchers said.

“If you stretch graphene, it will expand along the direction it is stretched, but contract along the perpendicular direction.” Wang said. “However, if you stretch penta-graphene, it will expand in both directions.”

The material’s mechanical strength, derived from a rare property known as Negative Poisson’s Ratio, may hold especially interesting applications for technology, the researchers said.

Penta-graphene’s properties suggest that it may have applications in electronics, biomedicine, nanotechnology and more.

The next step, Jena said, is for scientists to synthesize penta-graphene.

“Once you make it, it [will be] very stable. So the question becomes, how do you make it? In this paper, we have some ideas. Right now, the project is theoretical. It’s based on computer modelling, but we believe in this prediction quite strongly. And once you make it, it will open up an entirely new branch of carbon science. Two-dimensional carbon made completely of pentagons has never been known.”

Here’s a graphic representation of the new graphene material,

Caption: The newly discovered material, called penta-graphene, is a single layer of carbon pentagons that resembles the Cairo tiling, and that appears to be dynamically, thermally and mechanically stable. Credit: Virginia Commonwealth University

Caption: The newly discovered material, called penta-graphene, is a single layer of carbon pentagons that resembles the Cairo tiling, and that appears to be dynamically, thermally and mechanically stable.
Credit: Virginia Commonwealth University

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Penta-graphene: A new carbon allotrope by Shunhong Zhanga, Jian Zhou, Qian Wanga, Xiaoshuang Chen, Yoshiyuki Kawazoe, and Puru Jena. PNAS February 2, 2015 doi: 10.1073/pnas.1416591112 Published online before print February 2, 2015

This paper is behind a paywall.