A team of Australian and Korean researchers led by Geoffrey M. Spinks and Seon Jeong Kim has now developed a novel, highly porous, sponge-like material whose mechanical properties closely resemble those of biological soft tissues. It consists of a robust network of DNA strands and carbon nanotubes.

Soft tissues, such as tendons, muscles, arteries, and skin or other organs, obtain their mechanical support from the extracellular matrix, a network of protein-based nanofibers. Different protein morphologies in the extracellular matrix produce tissue with a wide range of stiffness. Implants and scaffolding for tissue growth require porous, soft materials -- which are usually very fragile. Because many biological tissues are regularly subjected to intense mechanical loads, it is also important that the implant material have comparable elasticity in order to avoid inflammation. At the same time, the material must be very strong and resilient, or it may give out.

The new concept uses DNA strands as a matrix; the strands completely “wrap” the scaffold-forming carbon nanotubes in the presence of an ionic liquid, networking them to form a gel. This gel can be spun: just as silk and synthetic fibers can be wet-spun for textiles, the gel can be made into very fine threads when injected into a special bath. The dried fibers have a porous, sponge-like structure and consist of a network of intertwined 50 nm-wide nanofibers. Soaking in a calcium chloride solution further cross-links the DNA, causing the fibers to become denser and more strongly connected.

These spongy fibers resemble the collagen fiber networks of the biological extracellular matrix. They can also be knotted, braided, or woven into textile-like structures. This results in materials that are as elastic as the softest natural tissues while simultaneously deriving great strength from the robust DNA links.

An additional advantage is the electrical conductivity of the new material, which can thus also be used in electrodes for mechanical actuators, energy storage, and sensors. For example, the researchers were able to produce a hydrogen peroxide sensor. The carbon nanotubes catalyze the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide, which results in a measurable current. Hydrogen peroxide plays a role in normal heart function and certain heart diseases. A robust sensor with elasticity similar to the heart muscle would be of great help in researching these relationships

production of alternating current by nanotechnology

Researchers have developed a new type of small-scale electric power generator able to produce alternating current through the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires encapsulated in a flexible plastic substrate with two ends bonded.
Flexible charge pump: New small-scale generator produces alternating current by stretching zinc oxide wires of the pump.

gold nanostar shape of future

Rods, cones, cubes and spheres move aside. Tiny gold stars, smaller than a billionth of a meter, may hold the promise for new approaches to medical diagnoses or testing for environmental contaminants.

new generation of paper thin loudspeakers through nanotechnology

In research that may redefine ear buds, earphones, stereo loudspeakers, and other devices for producing sound, researchers in China are reporting development of flexible loudspeakers thinner than paper that might be inserted into the ears with an index finger or attached to clothing, walls, or windows. Their report on what may be the world's thinnest loudspeakers, made from transparent carbon nanotube films, is scheduled for the December 10 issue of ACS' Nano Letters

detection of lung cancer by nanotech tubes

Using an array of nanotube devices, each coated with a different organic material, researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology have developed diagnostic system that may be able to diagnose lung cancer simply by sampling a patient%u2019s breath. The results of this study, which was led by Hossam Haick, Ph.D., appear in the journal Nano Letters.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have developed a new technology which can dramatically improve the effectiveness of antibacterial treatments. which have capacity to drugs by improving their anti bacterial action against the harmful disease causing bacteria.

lower cost solar cells through nanotechnology

We never knew where basic research may lead. For decades materials scientists have been experimenting with a corkscrew-like polymer structure called a gyroid. Now an international team of researchers has shown that the gyroid structure can be used to "self-assemble" a low-cost photovoltaic cell.

this is a low cost solar cell which needs the knowledge of nanotechnology and uses the solar power of the sunlight.