US – Page 62 – TechConnect Briefs

SWCNT TUBALL as a universal conductive additive in plastics

Ilin E.S., Bezrodny A.E., Predtechenskiy M.R., OCSiAl LLC (OCSiAl Group), US

The development of electro-conductive plastics filled with SWCNTs is demonstrated. A number of different plastics filled with TUBALLTM such as polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS-plastic, polystyrene etc. exhibit electrical resistance in the range of 10^8-10^4 Ω*cm. The [...]

The Brain-Machine Interface: Nanotechniques for Improving Brain Electrochemical Monitoring and Modulating

Andrews R., Bennet K., Chang S.Y., Koehne J., Lee K., Meyyappan M., Rand E., NASA Ames Research Center, US

Purpose: Present-day neuromodulation, e.g. deep brain stimulation (DBS), is limited by inefficient charge transfer from electrodes to brain tissue, lack of brain chemical (neurotransmitter) monitoring, and absence of feedback-guided stimulation. Although DBS using platinum macroelectrodes [...]

High Volume Fraction Carbon Nanotube Composites for Aerospace Applications

Siochi E.J., NASA Langley Research Center, US

Reported mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at the nanoscale suggest their potential to enable significantly lighter structures of interest in space applications. However, their utility depends on the retention of these properties in bulk [...]

High-Temperature First-Order-Reversal-Curve (FORC) Study of Magnetic Nanoparticle Materials

Dodrill B., Ohodnicki P., Lake Shore Cryotronics, US

First-order-reversal-curves (FORC) are an elegant tool for characterizing the magnetic properties of materials. The technique has been extensively used to investigate the magnetic properties of natural samples because it can distinguish between different domain states [...]

Rapid High Resolution Multi-Parameter Characterization of Liposome-Protein Complexes by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis

Ragheb R., Esposito E., Griffiths D., Malvern Instruments, US

Aggregation of biological and synthetic materials is a source of tremendous concern, posing problems at various stages of discovery and formulation processes. The ability to identify and characterize aggregates is of broad utility, and experiments [...]

In-situ Characterization of Nanopowders during compaction using SANS and AC impedance spectroscopy

Rudzik T.J., Gerhardt R.A., Georgia Institute of Technology, US

Sintering is one of the primary methods of fabrication of ceramic materials. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the processing-property relationships for materials undergoing sintering is of great potential value. A new testing method combining small [...]

Neutron Scattering for Biological Research: Progress at the Bio-SANS Beam Line

Qian S., Pingali S.V., Weiss K., Urban V., O'Neill H.M., Langan P., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US

Structure-function relationships remain a critical theme in understanding many important biological processes regarding energy, disease and other applications. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, home to two of the most powerful neutron sources for research High [...]

THz-Raman® Characterization of Graphene and Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials

Heyler R., Carriere J., Roy A., Ondax, Inc., US

Two dimensional (2D) materials have attracted a lot of attention due to their optimal optoelectronic properties which are not found in the domain of silicon based electronic materials. The identification and characterization of 2D materials, [...]

Effect of Film Thickness of an Insulating Material on Electrical Property Characterization and Edge Effects

Patel S.V., Gerhardt R.A., Georgia Institute of Technology, US

Insulating films such as silicon dioxide (SiO₂) have a variety of microelectronic applications because of the compound's insulating and dielectric properties. When measuring the electrical properties of a metal oxide film like silicon oxide, it [...]

Optical Fluorescence Microscopy for Spatially Characterizing Electron Transfer across a Solid-Liquid Interface on Heterogeneous Electrodes

Choudhary E., National Institute of Standards and Technology, US

Heterogeneous catalytic materials and electrodes are used for (electro)chemical transformations, including those important for energy storage and utilization. Due to the heterogeneous nature of these materials, activity measurements with sufficient spatial resolution are needed to [...]