NT/ Scientists use blue-green algae as a surrogate mother for ‘meat-like’ proteins
Nanotechnology & nanomaterials biweekly vol.50, 22th February — 7th March
TL;DR
- Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have not only succeeded in using blue-green algae as a surrogate mother for a new protein — they have even coaxed the microalgae to produce “meat fiber-like” protein strands. This achievement may be the key to sustainable foods that have both the “right” texture and require minimal processing.
- The sunlight received by Earth is a mixed bag of wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to visible to infrared. Each wavelength carries inherent energy that, if effectively harnessed, holds great potential to facilitate solar hydrogen production and diminish reliance on non-renewable energy sources. Nonetheless, existing solar hydrogen production technologies face limitations in absorbing light across this broad spectrum, particularly failing to harness the potential of near-infrared (NIR) light energy that reaches Earth. Recent research has identified that both Au and Cu7S4 nanostructures exhibit a distinctive optical characteristic known as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR).
- Cooking on your gas stove can emit more nano-sized particles into the air than vehicles that run on gas or diesel, possibly increasing your risk of developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses, a new study has found.
- Scientists at EPFL have developed a game-changing technique that uses light to manipulate and identify individual bacteriophages without the need for chemical labels or bioreceptors, potentially accelerating and revolutionizing phage-based therapies that can treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
- Inspired by the design of space shuttles, Penn Engineering researchers have invented a new way to synthesize a key component of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the revolutionary delivery vehicle for mRNA treatments including the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, simplifying the manufacture of LNPs while boosting their efficacy at delivering mRNA to cells for medicinal purposes.
- A research team at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University reported a simple way to fabricate electrochemical transistors using a standard Nanoscribe 3D micro printer. Without cleanroom environments, solvents, or chemicals, the researchers demonstrated that 3D micro printers could be hacked to laser print and micropattern semiconducting, conducting, and insulating polymers.
- Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new nanoparticle that can get drugs inside cells to boost the immune system and fight diseases such as cancer. The research is led by John Wilson, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and biomedical engineering, as well as a corresponding author on the paper about the research that was recently published in the journal Nanoscale.
- A recent study in Microsystems & Nanoengineering has introduced a novel acoustofluidic method capable of separating micro-objects based on shape, using surface acoustic waves. This label-free technique marks a significant advancement in microfluidic technologies.
- Researchers from RMIT University are using nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people down faster. Their study, published in the journal Polymers for Advanced Technologies, found fabric made from cotton coated with nanodiamonds, using a method called electrospinning, showed a reduction of 2–3°C during the cooling down process compared to untreated cotton.
- New research, conducted at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, illuminates the strange behavior of gold when zapped with high-energy laser pulses.
Nanotech Market
Nanotechnology deals with the ability to see, understand, measure, predict, produce or control matter at the nanoscale (below 100 nanometers). The realm of nanotechnology lies between 0.1 and 100 nanometers, wherein a nanometer is defined as one-thousandth of a micron. As a versatile technology with widespread applications in a wide range of end-use sectors, nanotechnology is currently facing a mixed bag of challenges and opportunities as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the globe. With the world fighting its biggest public health crisis in history, nanotechnology healthcare applications are storming into the spotlight led by the focus on nano intervention in terms of designing effective ways to identify, diagnose, treat and eliminate the spread of COVID-19 infections. Their role as nanocarriers has the potential to design risk-free and effective immunization strategies. In the post-COVID-19 period, the use of nanotechnology solutions in the production of a multitude of devices & products will continue to grow.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Nanotechnology estimated at US$42.2 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$70.7 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.2% over the analysis period. Nanocomposites, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to record an 8.7% CAGR and reach US$35.4 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Nanomaterials segment is readjusted to a revised 10.1% CAGR for the next 7-year period.
Global nanotechnology market to reach US $126.8 billion by the year 2027. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Nanotechnology is estimated at US $54.2 billion in the year 2020 and is projected to reach a revised size of US $126 billion.
Latest News & Research
Self-Assembly of Nanofilaments in Cyanobacteria for Protein Co-localization
by Julie A. Z. Zedler et al in ACS Nano
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have not only succeeded in using blue-green algae as a surrogate mother for a new protein — they have even coaxed the microalgae to produce “meat fiber-like” protein strands. This achievement may be the key to sustainable foods that have both the “right” texture and require minimal processing.
We all know that we ought to eat less meat and cheese and dig into more plant-based foods. But while perusing the supermarket cold display and having to choose between animal-based foods and more climate-friendly alternative proteins, our voices of reason don’t always win. And even though flavor has been mastered in many plant-based products, textures with the ‘right’ mouthfeel have often been lacking.
Furthermore, some plant-based protein alternatives are not as sustainable anyway, due to the resources consumed by their processing.
But what if it was possible to make sustainable, protein-rich foods that also have the right texture? New research from the University of Copenhagen is fueling that vision. The key? Blue-green algae. Not the infamous type known for being a poisonous broth in the sea come summertime, but non-toxic ones.
“Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are living organisms that we have been able to get to produce a protein that they don’t naturally produce. The particularly exciting thing here is that the protein is formed in fibrous strands which somewhat resemble meat fibers. And, it might be possible to use these fibers in plant-based meat, cheese or some other new type of food for which we are after a particular texture,” says Professor Poul Erik Jensen of the Department of Food Science.
In a new study appearing in ACS Nano, Jensen and fellow researchers from the University of Copenhagen, among other institutions, have shown that cyanobacteria can serve as host organisms for the new protein by inserting foreign genes into a cyanobacterium. Within the cyanobacterium, the protein organizes itself as tiny threads or nanofibers.
Scientists around the world have zoomed in on cyanobacteria and other microalgae as potential alternative foods. In part because, like plants, they grow by means of photosynthesis, and partly because they themselves contain both a large amount of protein and healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids.
“I’m a humble guy from the countryside who rarely throws his arms into the air, but being able to manipulate a living organism to produce a new kind of protein which organizes itself into threads is rarely seen to this extent — and it is very promising,” says Poul Erik Jensen, who heads a research group specializing in plant-based food and plant biochemistry.
“Also, because it is an organism that can easily be grown sustainably, as it survives on water, atmospheric CO2 and solar rays. This result gives cyanobacteria even greater potential as a sustainable ingredient.”
Many researchers around the world are working to develop protein-rich texture enhancers for plant-based foods — e.g., in the form of peas and soybeans. However, these require a significant amount of processing, as the seeds need to be ground up and the protein extracted from them, so as to achieve high enough protein concentrations.
“If we can utilize the entire cyanobacterium in foodstuffs, and not just the protein fibers, it will minimize the amount of processing needed. In food research, we seek to avoid too much processing as it compromises the nutritional value of an ingredient and also uses an awful lot of energy,” says Jensen.
The professor emphasizes that it will be quite some time before the production of protein strands from cyanobacteria begins. First, the researchers need to figure out how to optimize the cyanobacteria’s production of protein fibers.
But Jensen is optimistic, adding, “We need to refine these organisms to produce more protein fibers, and in doing so, ‘hijack’ the cyanobacteria to work for us. It’s a bit like dairy cows, which we’ve hijacked to produce an insane amount of milk for us. Except here, we avoid any ethical considerations regarding animal welfare. We won’t reach our goal tomorrow because of a few metabolic challenges in the organism that we must learn to tackle. But we’re already in the process and I am certain that we can succeed. If so, this is the ultimate way to make protein.”
Cyanobacteria such as spirulina are already grown industrially in several countries — mostly for health foods. Production typically occurs in so-called raceway ponds beneath the open sky or in photobioreactors chambers, where the organisms grow in glass tubes.
According to Jensen, Denmark is an obvious place to establish “microalgae factories” to produce processed cyanobacteria. The country has biotech companies with the right skills and an efficient agricultural sector.
“Danish agriculture could, in principle, produce cyanobacteria and other microalgae, just as they produce dairy products today. It would be possible to harvest, or milk, a proportion of the cells as fresh biomass on a daily basis. By concentrating cyanobacteria cells, you get something that looks like a pesto, but with protein strands. And with minimal processing, it could be incorporated directly into a food.”
Dual-plasmonic Au@Cu7S4 yolk@shell nanocrystals for photocatalytic hydrogen production across visible to near infrared spectral region
by Chun-Wen Tsao et al in Nature Communications
The sunlight received by Earth is a mixed bag of wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to visible to infrared. Each wavelength carries inherent energy that, if effectively harnessed, holds great potential to facilitate solar hydrogen production and diminish reliance on non-renewable energy sources. Nonetheless, existing solar hydrogen production technologies face limitations in absorbing light across this broad spectrum, particularly failing to harness the potential of near infrared (NIR) light energy that reaches Earth. Recent research has identified that both Au and Cu7S4 nanostructures exhibit a distinctive optical characteristic known as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR).
It can be precisely adjusted to absorb wavelengths spanning the visible to NIR spectrum. A team of researchers, led by Associate Professor Tso-Fu Mark Chang and Lecturer Chun-Yi Chen from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Professor Yung-Jung Hsu from National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, seized this possibility and developed an innovative Au@Cu7S4 yolk@shell nanocrystal capable of producing hydrogen when exposed to both visible and NIR light.
“We realized that wide-spectrum-driven hydrogen production is gaining momentum in recent days as a potential green energy source. At the same time, we saw that there were not many currently available options for photocatalysts that could respond to NIR irradiation,” say Dr. Hsu and Dr. Chang. “So, we decided to create one by combining two promising nanostructures, i.e., Au and Cu7S4, with tailorable LSPR features.”
The research team utilized an ion-exchange reaction for the synthesis of Au@Cu7S4 nanocrystals, which were subsequently analyzed using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and transient absorption spectroscopy to investigate the structural and optical properties.
These investigations confirmed that Au@Cu7S4 features a yolk@shell nanostructure endowed with dual-plasmonic optical properties. Furthermore, ultrafast spectroscopy data revealed that Au@Cu7S4 maintained long-lived charge separation states when exposed to both visible and NIR light, highlighting its potential for efficient solar energy conversion.
The research team discovered that the yolk@shell nanostructures inherent to the Au@Cu7S4 nanocrystals notably enhanced their photocatalytic capabilities.
“The confined space within the hollow shell improved the molecular diffusion kinetics, thereby augmenting the interactions among reactive species. Additionally, the mobility of the yolk particles played a crucial role in establishing a homogeneous reaction environment as they were able to agitate the reaction solution effectively,” explains Dr. Chen.
Consequently, this innovative photocatalyst reached a peak quantum yield of 9.4 % in the visible range (500 nm) and achieved a record-breaking quantum yield of 7.3 % in the NIR range (2200 nm) for hydrogen production. Distinctively, unlike conventional photocatalytic systems, this novel approach eliminates the need for co-catalysts to enhance hydrogen production reactions.
Overall, the study introduces a sustainable photocatalytic platform for solar fuel generation that boasts remarkable hydrogen production capabilities and sensitivity to a broad spectrum of light. It showcases the potential of leveraging the LSPR properties of Au and Cu7S4 for the effective capture of previously untapped NIR energy.
“We are optimistic that our findings will motivate further investigations into tweaking the LSPR properties of self-doped, nonstoichiometric semiconductors, aiming to create photocatalysts responsive across a wide spectrum for a variety of solar-powered applications,” conclude Dr. Hsu and Dr. Chang.
Dynamics of nanocluster aerosol in the indoor atmosphere during gas cooking
by Satya S Patra, Jinglin Jiang, Xiaosu Ding, Chunxu Huang, Emily K Reidy, Vinay Kumar, Paige Price, Connor Keech, Gerhard Steiner, Philip Stevens, Nusrat Jung, Brandon E Boor in PNAS Nexus,
Cooking on your gas stove can emit more nano-sized particles into the air than vehicles that run on gas or diesel, possibly increasing your risk of developing asthma or other respiratory illnesses, a new Purdue University study has found.
“Combustion remains a source of air pollution across the world, both indoors and outdoors. We found that cooking on your gas stove produces large amounts of small nanoparticles that get into your respiratory system and deposit efficiently,” said Brandon Boor, an associate professor in Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil Engineering, who led this research.
Based on these findings, the researchers would encourage turning on a kitchen exhaust fan while cooking on a gas stove.
The study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, focused on tiny airborne nanoparticles that are only 1–3 nanometers in diameter, which is just the right size for reaching certain parts of the respiratory system and spreading to other organs.
Recent studies have found that children who live in homes with gas stoves are more likely to develop asthma. But not much is known about how particles smaller than 3 nanometers, called nanocluster aerosol, grow and spread indoors because they’re very difficult to measure.
“These super tiny nanoparticles are so small that you’re not able to see them. They’re not like dust particles that you would see floating in the air,” Boor said. “After observing such high concentrations of nanocluster aerosol during gas cooking, we can’t ignore these nano-sized particles anymore.”
Using state-of-the-art air quality instrumentation provided by the German company GRIMM AEROSOL TECHNIK, a member of the DURAG GROUP, Purdue researchers were able to measure these tiny particles down to a single nanometer while cooking on a gas stove in a “tiny house” lab. They collaborated with Gerhard Steiner, a senior scientist and product manager for nano measurement at GRIMM AEROSOL.
Called the Purdue zero Energy Design Guidance for Engineers (zEDGE) lab, the tiny house has all the features of a typical home but is equipped with sensors for closely monitoring the impact of everyday activities on a home’s air quality. With this testing environment and the instrument from GRIMM AEROSOL, a high-resolution particle size magnifier — scanning mobility particle sizer (PSMPS), the team collected extensive data on indoor nanocluster aerosol particles during realistic cooking experiments.
This magnitude of high-quality data allowed the researchers to compare their findings with known outdoor air pollution levels, which are more regulated and understood than indoor air pollution. They found that as many as 10 quadrillion nanocluster aerosol particles could be emitted per kilogram of cooking fuel — matching or exceeding those produced from vehicles with internal combustion engines.
This would mean that adults and children could be breathing in 10–100 times more nanocluster aerosol from cooking on a gas stove indoors than they would from car exhaust while standing on a busy street.
“You would not use a diesel engine exhaust pipe as an air supply to your kitchen,” said Nusrat Jung, a Purdue assistant professor of civil engineering who designed the tiny house lab with her students and co-led this study.
Purdue civil engineering PhD student Satya Patra made these findings by looking at data collected in the tiny house lab and modeling the various ways that nanocluster aerosol could transform indoors and deposit into a person’s respiratory system.
The models showed that nanocluster aerosol particles are very persistent in their journey from the gas stove to the rest of the house. Trillions of these particles were emitted within just 20 minutes of boiling water or making grilled cheese sandwiches or buttermilk pancakes on a gas stove.
Even though many particles rapidly diffused to other surfaces, the models indicated that approximately 10 billion to 1 trillion particles could deposit into an adult’s head airways and tracheobronchial region of the lungs. These doses would be even higher for children — the smaller the human, the more concentrated the dose.
The nanocluster aerosol coming from the gas combustion also could easily mix with larger particles entering the air from butter, oil or whatever else is cooking on the gas stove, resulting in new particles with their own unique behaviors.
A gas stove’s exhaust fan would likely redirect these nanoparticles away from your respiratory system, but that remains to be tested.
“Since most people don’t turn on their exhaust fan while cooking, having kitchen hoods that activate automatically would be a logical solution,” Boor said. “Moving forward, we need to think about how to reduce our exposure to all types of indoor air pollutants. Based on our new data, we’d advise that nanocluster aerosol be considered as a distinct air pollutant category.”
Optical Trapping and Fast Discrimination of Label‐Free Bacteriophages at the Single Virion Level
by Nicolas Villa et al in Small
Scientists at EPFL have developed a game-changing technique that uses light to manipulate and identify individual bacteriophages without the need for chemical labels or bioreceptors, potentially accelerating and revolutionizing phage-based therapies that can treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
With antibiotic resistance looming as a formidable threat to our health, scientists are on a constant quest for alternative ways to treat bacterial infections. As more and more bacterial strains outsmart drugs we have been relying on for decades, a possible alternative solution may be found in bacteriophages, which are viruses that prey on bacteria.
Phage therapy, the use of bacteriophages to combat bacterial infections, is gaining attraction as a viable alternative to traditional antibiotics. But there is a catch: Finding the right phage for a given infection is like searching for a needle in a haystack, while current methods involve cumbersome culturing, time-consuming assays.
Now, scientists at EPFL, in collaboration with the CEA Grenoble and the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) have developed on-chip nanotweezers that can trap and manipulate individual bacteria and virions (the infectious form of a virus) using a minimal amount of optical power. The study, led by Nicolas Villa and Enrico Tartari in the group of Romuald Houdré at EPFL, is published in the journal Small.
The nanotweezers are a type of optical tweezers, scientific instruments that use a highly focused laser beam to hold and manipulate microscopic (e.g., virions) and even sub-microscopic objects like atoms in three dimensions. The light creates a gradient force that attracts the particles towards a high-intensity focal point, effectively holding them in place without physical contact.
Optical tweezers were first invented in 1986 by the physicist Arthur Ashkin who worked out the principles behind them in the late 1960’s. Ashkin’s technological innovation won him the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics, and optical tweezers remain an intense field of research.
There are different types of optical tweezers. For example, free-space optical tweezers can manipulate an object in an open environment such as air or liquid without any physical barriers or structures guiding the light. But in this study, the researchers built nanotweezers embedded in an optofluidic device that integrates optical and fluidic technologies on a single chip.
The chip contains silicon-based photonic crystal cavities — the nanotweezers, which are essentially tiny traps that gently nudge the phages into position using a light-generated force field. The system allowed the researchers to precisely control single bacteria and single virions and acquire information about the trapped microorganisms in real time.
What sets this approach apart is that it can distinguish between different types of phages without using any chemical labels or surface bioreceptors, which can be time-consuming and sometimes ineffective. Instead, the nanotweezers distinguish between phages by reading the unique changes each particle causes in the light’s properties. The label-free method can significantly accelerate the selection of therapeutic phages, promising faster turnaround for potential phage-based treatments.
The research also has implications beyond phage therapy. Being able to manipulate and study single virions in real time opens up new avenues in microbiological research, offering scientists a powerful tool for rapid testing and experimentation. This could lead to a deeper understanding of viruses and their interactions with hosts, which is invaluable in the ongoing battle against infectious diseases.
In situ combinatorial synthesis of degradable branched lipidoids for systemic delivery of mRNA therapeutics and gene editors
by Xuexiang Han et al in Nature Communications
Inspired by the design of space shuttles, Penn Engineering researchers have invented a new way to synthesize a key component of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the revolutionary delivery vehicle for mRNA treatments including the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, simplifying the manufacture of LNPs while boosting their efficacy at delivering mRNA to cells for medicinal purposes.
In a paper in Nature Communications, Michael J. Mitchell, Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, describes a new way to synthesize ionizable lipidoids, key chemical components of LNPs that help protect and deliver medicinal payloads. For this paper, Mitchell and his co-authors tested delivery of an mRNA drug for treating obesity and gene-editing tools for treating genetic disease.
Previous experiments have shown that lipidoids with branched tails perform better at delivering mRNA to cells, but the methods for creating these molecules are time- and cost-intensive.
“We offer a novel construction strategy for rapid and cost-efficient synthesis of these lipidoids,” says Xuexiang Han, a postdoctoral student in the Mitchell Lab and the paper’s co-first author.
The method involves combining three chemicals: an amine “head,” two alkyl epoxide “tails” and, finally, two acyl chloride “branched tails.” The completed lipidoid’s resemblance to a space shuttle strapped to two booster rockets is not coincidental: in college, recalls Han, a documentary about the space shuttle left him impressed with the design of solid rocket boosters that enabled the shuttle to enter orbit.
“I figured that we could append two branch tails as ‘boosters’ into the lipidoid to promote the delivery of mRNA,” says Han.
Indeed, the addition of the branched tails led to a striking increase in the ability of LNPs equipped with the new lipidoid to deliver mRNA to target cells, much like a rocket whose boosters allow it to more easily penetrate the atmosphere.
“We saw a dramatic increase of a hormone that regulates metabolism to target cells after delivering mRNA using these lipidoids, which is really exciting when you consider it as a way to treat obesity,” says Mitchell.
Cleanroom‐Free Direct Laser Micropatterning of Polymers for Organic Electrochemical Transistors in Logic Circuits and Glucose Biosensors
by Alessandro Enrico et al in Advanced Science
The speed of innovation in bioelectronics and critical sensors gets a new boost with the unveiling of a simple, time-saving technique for the fast prototyping of devices. A research team at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University reported a simple way to fabricate electrochemical transistors using a standard Nanoscribe 3D micro printer. Without cleanroom environments, solvents, or chemicals, the researchers demonstrated that 3D micro printers could be hacked to laser print and micropattern semiconducting, conducting, and insulating polymers.
Anna Herland, professor in Micro- and Nanosystems at KTH, says the printing of these polymers is a key step in prototyping new kinds of electrochemical transistors for medical implants, wearable electronics and biosensors.
The technique could replace time-consuming processes that require an expensive cleanroom environment. Nor would it involve solvents and developer baths that have a negative environmental impact, says the study’s co-author Erica Zeglio, a faculty researcher with Digital Futures, a research center jointly operated by KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University.
“Current methods rely on expensive and unsustainable cleanroom practices,” Zeglio says. “The method we proposed here doesn’t.”
Polymers are core components of many bioelectronic and flexible electronic devices. The applications are diverse, including monitoring living tissues and cells and diagnosing diseases in point-of-care testing.
“Fast prototyping of these devices is time-consuming and costly,” Herland says. “It hinders the widespread adoption of bioelectronic technologies.”
Using ultrafast laser pulses, the new method creates possibilities for the rapid prototyping and scaling of microscale devices for bioelectronics, says co-author and KTH Professor Frank Niklaus. The method could also be used for the patterning of other soft electronic devices, he says. The team applied the new method to fabricate complementary inverters and enzymatic glucose sensors.
Herland says the method could advance research in bioelectronic devices and significantly shorten the time-to-market.
“This also creates the possibility of replacing some of the current components with cheaper and more sustainable alternatives,” she says.
Engineering endosomolytic nanocarriers of diverse morphologies using confined impingement jet mixing
by Hayden M. Pagendarm et al in Nanoscale
Vanderbilt researchers have developed a new nanoparticle that can more get drugs inside cells to boost the immune system and fight diseases such as cancer. The research is led by John Wilson, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and biomedical engineering, as well as a corresponding author on the paper about the research that was recently published in the journal Nanoscale.
Wilson, who is the Principal Investigator of the Immunoengineering Lab at Vanderbilt and a Chancellor Faculty Fellow, and his team created a polymeric nanoparticle that can penetrate cell membranes and get drugs into the cytosol — or liquid — inside cells.
One example is a molecule called cGAMP, which essentially boosts the immune system by detecting and responding to viral infections. On its own, cGAMP can have difficulty entering the cell. But when loaded within the nanoparticle, it has better access.
The researchers also demonstrated that the polymeric nanoparticle can slow tumor growth and extend survival in a mouse model of melanoma. Additionally, they said the new method is scalable.
“The implications of our paper are that our nanoparticle can be reproducibly manufactured at an industrial scale, which is a requirement for any mass manufactured drug product,” said Hayden Pagendarm, a NSF Graduate Research Fellow and co-author on the paper.
Payton Stone, another co-author and NSF Graduate Research Fellow, said the research can be tuned for use with a wide variety of drug cargos.
“The innovative particle formulation strategy detailed in this paper will allow us to optimize our platform for the loading of various immune modulators in the future,” said Stone.
Acoustofluidic separation of prolate and spherical micro-objects
by Muhammad Soban Khan et al in Microsystems & Nanoengineering
A recent study in Microsystems & Nanoengineering has introduced a novel acoustofluidic method capable of separating micro-objects based on shape, using surface acoustic waves. This label-free technique marks a significant advancement in microfluidic technologies.
Thanks to the rapid progress in tiny tech, we’ve been mainly using microfluidics to sort tiny particles by size. But now, there’s a new way to sort them by shape, which could be a big deal for medical tests and chemistry. A recent study introduces a new method using sound waves to separate oddly shaped particles from round ones without needing any labels. This breakthrough could lead to better ways to deliver drugs or diagnose diseases by offering a smarter approach to sorting these tiny particles.
In the realm of microfluidics, separating micro-particles based solely on size has been the norm. However, distinguishing these particles by shape is crucial for advancing biomedical and chemical analyses. This approach requires innovative techniques capable of identifying and separating micro-objects with subtle shape differences, moving beyond traditional size-based separation methods.
This shift towards shape-based separation opens up new possibilities for more precise and efficient biomedical research, diagnostics, and various applications in chemical assays, highlighting the need for advancements in microfluidic technology to explore this untapped potential.
In the study, researchers have made a significant breakthrough in microfluidics, introducing an innovative acoustofluidic technique that distinguishes and separates micro-particles based on their shape rather than size. This method, utilizing surface acoustic waves, skillfully manipulates prolate ellipsoids and spherical microparticles, enabling their separation with unprecedented accuracy.
This advancement stems from the realization that shape, a critical property often overlooked, can provide more nuanced insights in various applications. By focusing the acoustic waves, the team has successfully demonstrated that non-spherical objects can be aligned and separated, achieving high purity and efficiency. This research not only challenges conventional separation methods but also sets a new standard for precision in micro-object manipulation.
Dr. Jinsoo Park, lead researcher of the study, says, “This method not only enhances the precision in micro-object separation but also opens up new avenues in biomedical research and diagnostics, enabling more accurate and efficient analyses.”
This research has broad potential, covering everything from enhancing drug delivery to pinpointing specific cells for diagnosis. With further development, it could revolutionize fields like biomedical engineering and environmental science, offering deeper insights and management of the microscopic realm.
Immobilization of nanodiamonds onto cotton fabric through polyurethane nanofibrous coatings for summer clothing
by Aisha Rehman et al in Polymers for Advanced Technologies
Researchers from RMIT University are using nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people down faster. Their study, published in the journal Polymers for Advanced Technologies, found fabric made from cotton coated with nanodiamonds, using a method called electrospinning, showed a reduction of 2–3°C during the cooling down process compared to untreated cotton.
They do this by drawing out body heat and releasing it from the fabric — a result of the incredible thermal conductivity of nanodiamonds.
Project lead and Senior Lecturer, Dr. Shadi Houshyar, said there was a big opportunity to use these insights to create new textiles for sportswear and even personal protective clothing, such as underlayers to keep fire fighters cool. The study also found nanodiamonds increased the UV protection of cotton, making it ideal for outdoor summer clothing.
“While 2 or 3 degrees may not seem like much of a change, it does make a difference in comfort and health impacts over extended periods and in practical terms, could be the difference between keeping your air conditioner off or turning it on,” Houshyar said. “There’s also potential to explore how nanodiamonds can be used to protect buildings from overheating, which can lead to environmental benefits.”
The use of this fabric in clothing was projected to lead to a 20%–30% energy saving due to lower use of air conditioning.
Based in the Center for Materials Innovation and Future Fashion (CMIFF), the research team is made up of RMIT engineers and textile researchers who have strong expertise in developing next-generation smart textiles, as well as working with industry to develop realistic solutions.
Contrary to popular belief, nanodiamonds are not the same as the diamonds that adorn jewelry, said Houshyar.
“They’re actually cheap to make — cheaper than graphene oxide and other types of carbon materials,” she said. “While they have a carbon lattice structure, they are much smaller in size. They’re also easy to make using methods like detonation or from waste materials.”
Cotton material was first coated with an adhesive, then electrospun with a polymer solution made from nanodiamonds, polyurethane and solvent. This process creates a web of nanofibers on the cotton fibers, which are then cured to bond the two.
Lead researcher and research assistant, Dr. Aisha Rehman, said the coating with nanodiamonds was deliberately applied to only one side of the fabric to restrict heat in the atmosphere from transferring back to the body.
“The side of the fabric with the nanodiamond coating is what touches the skin. The nanodiamonds then transfer heat from the body into the air,” said Rehman, who worked on the study as part of her Ph.D. “Because nanodiamonds are such good thermal conductors, it does it faster than untreated fabric.”
Nanodiamonds were chosen for this study because of their strong thermal conductivity properties, said Rehman.
Often used in IT, nanodiamonds can also help improve thermal properties of liquids and gels, as well as increase corrosive resistance in metals.
“Nanodiamonds are also biocompatible, so they’re safe for the human body. Therefore, it has great potential not just in textiles, but also in the biomedical field,” Rehman said.
While the research was still preliminary, Houshyar said this method of coating nanofibres onto textiles had strong commercial potential.
“This electrospinning approach is straightforward and can significantly reduce the variety of manufacturing steps compared to previously tested methods, which feature lengthy processes and wastage of nanodiamonds,” Houshyar said.
Evidence for phonon hardening in laser-excited gold using X-ray diffraction at a hard X-ray free electron laser
by Adrien Descamps et al in Science Advances
New research, conducted at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, illuminates the strange behavior of gold when zapped with high-energy laser pulses.
When certain materials, such as silicon, are subjected to intense laser excitation, they quickly fall apart. But gold does the opposite: It becomes tougher and more resilient. This is because the way the gold atoms vibrate together — their phonon behavior — changes.
“Our findings challenge previous understandings by showing that, under certain conditions, metals like gold can become stronger rather than melting when subjected to intense laser pulses,” said Adrien Descamps, a researcher at Queen’s University Belfast who led the research while he was a graduate student at Stanford and SLAC. “This contrasts with semiconductors, which become unstable and melt.”
For decades, simulations hinted at the possibility of this phenomenon, known as phonon hardening. Now, using SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the researchers have finally brought this phonon hardening to light. The team has published their results in Science Advances.
“It’s been a fascinating journey to see our theoretical predictions confirmed experimentally,” said collaborator Emma McBride, a researcher at Queen’s University Belfast who was previously a Panofsky fellow at SLAC’s High Energy Density Science (HEDS) division. “The precision with which we can now measure these phenomena at LCLS is astonishing, and it opens up new possibilities for future research in material science.”
In their experiment, the team targeted thin gold films with optical laser pulses at the Matter in Extreme Conditions experimental hutch, then used super-fast X-ray pulses from LCLS to take atomic-level snapshots of how the material responded. This high-resolution glimpse into the atomic world of gold allowed researchers to observe subtle changes and capture the moment when its phonon energies increased, providing concrete evidence of phonon hardening.
“We used X-ray diffraction at LCLS to measure the structural response of gold to laser excitation,” McBride said. “This revealed insights into the atomic arrangements and stability under extreme conditions.”
The researchers found that when gold absorbs extremely high-energy optical laser pulses, the forces holding its atoms together become stronger. This change makes the atoms vibrate faster, which can change how the gold responds to heat and might even affect the temperature at which it melts.
“This work resolves a long-standing question about the ultrafast excitation of metals and shows that intense lasers can completely alternate the response of the lattice,” said Siegfried Glenzer, director of the High Energy Density Division at SLAC.
Researchers believe similar phenomena could exist in other metals such as aluminum, copper, and platinum. Further exploration could lead to a better understanding of how metals behave under extreme conditions, which will aid in the development of more resilient materials.
“Looking ahead, we’re excited about the potential to apply these findings to more practical applications, such as in laser machining and material manufacturing, where understanding these processes at the atomic level could lead to improved techniques and materials,” Descamps said. “We’re also planning more experiments and hoping to explore these phenomena across a wider range of materials. It’s an exciting time for our field, and we’re looking forward to seeing where these discoveries take us.”
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