Articles in 2010

Understanding the impact of nanomaterials on human health will require more detailed knowledge about the protein corona that surrounds nanoparticles in biological environments.

Graphene nanoribbons with low defect densities and large energy gaps can be fabricated by chemically unzipping carbon nanotubes and annealing the result.

Contacts between a single molecule and a metal electrode can be good or bad depending on the number of metal atoms that are in direct contact with the molecule.

The International Year of Chemistry gives chemists a chance to raise the profile of their subject.

Quantum-control pulse sequences can suppress errors and significantly extend the lifetimes of spin-based quantum bits in solid-state devices.

A new approach to public knowledge of science focuses on what the public want to know rather than what scientists think they should know. Chris Toumey reports.

Polymer-coated nanoparticles of a certain size can unfold fibrinogen and induce the binding of an integrin receptor that triggers the release of inflammatory signals.

Experiments have shown that carbon nanotubes are ideal optical wires, with properties affected by excitonic and other intrinsic properties, as well as by shape.

Spin-coherence times of ∼0.9 µs and Rabi oscillations with frequencies between 2 and 20 MHz have been observed in colloidal ZnO quantum dots doped with Mn²⁺.

Graphene nanoribbons manufactured by annealing unzipped carbon nanotubes have been measured to have a large energy bandgap of ∼50 meV, even for widths of ∼100 nm.

Cadmium concentrations in ciliates increase when bacteria that contain CdSe quantum dots are consumed by ciliate predators, suggesting that quantum dots could potentially be available to other levels of the food web.

Surface-enhanced Raman emission can measure the effective temperatures both of the vibrational modes and the flowing electrons in a nanoscale junction.

There is a growing literature on the use of science to inform decisions on the environmental, health and safety implications of nanotechnology, but little has been published by those who make such decisions. Here, as officials of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, we discuss the types of decision facing government regulators, the new considerations nanotechnology brings to decision-making, the role of science in informing decisions, how regulators cooperate internationally on policy issues, and the challenges that lie ahead.

The extracellular matrix is a nanocomposite material that supports the attachment of cells and provides information for tissue development. This Review outlines the architecture of this matrix, how nanotechnological approaches can be used to recreate its structure for developing better tissue and organ substitutes, and the challenges and future prospects of applying nanotechnology in tissue engineering.

An endoscope formed by attaching carbon nanotubes to the tips of glass micropipettes can be used to probe intracellular processes, and transport fluids and nanoparticles to and from precise locations.