Home > Press > Multipurpose Nanocables Invented
Abstract:
Nanocables could become key parts of toxin detectors, miniaturized solar cells and powerful computer chips.
Tiny nanocables, 1,000 times smaller than a human hair, could become key parts of toxin detectors, miniaturized solar cells and powerful computer chips.
The technique for making the nanocables was invented by UC Davis chemical engineers led by Pieter Stroeve, professor of chemical engineering and materials science. They manufacture the cables in the nano-sized pores of a template membrane. The insides of the pores are coated with gold. Layers of other semiconductors, such as tellurium, cadmium sulfide or zinc sulfide, are electrochemically deposited in the gold tube until a solid cable forms, then the membrane is dissolved, leaving finished cables behind.
Stroeve envisions many uses for these nanocables. For example, the cables' ability to conduct electricity changes when they are exposed to different chemicals or toxins. Earlier nano-devices could only detect whether a toxin was present, said Ruxandra Vidu, a postdoctoral scholar working with Stroeve. But nanocables will go further, measuring the quantity of toxins.
Stroeve's team can also construct arrays of nanocables. "You put a copper tape on the tops of the nanocables before the template is dissolved," Stroeve said. "You're left with nanocables sticking up at right angles from the tape."
These arrays have a very large surface area -- 1000 times greater than on a flat device of the same size. They could be used to efficiently capture sunlight in a tiny solar cell.
Nanocables could also be used to make computer chips more powerful by packing transistors closer together. Computers now contain silicon chips with metal transistors affixed to the surface. "With our new technique, we could embed transistors into the silicon chips to begin with," Stroeve said.
The work is published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
Possible Futures
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Chip Technology
New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed February 16th, 2024
HKUST researchers develop new integration technique for efficient coupling of III-V and silicon February 16th, 2024
NRL discovers two-dimensional waveguides February 16th, 2024
Sensors
Nanoelectronics
Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023
Key element for a scalable quantum computer: Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University demonstrate electron transport on a quantum chip September 23rd, 2022
Reduced power consumption in semiconductor devices September 23rd, 2022
Atomic level deposition to extend Moore’s law and beyond July 15th, 2022
Discoveries
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024
High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
Announcements
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||