Blue phosphorene (BlueP) is a graphene-like phosphorus nanosheet which was synthesized very recently for the first time [Nano Lett., 2016, 16, 4903-4908]. The combination of electronic properties of two different two-dimensional materials in an ultrathin van der Waals (vdW) vertical heterostructure has been proved to be an effective approach to the design of novel electronic and optoelectronic ...

Neuronal growth cones are motile structures located at the end of axons that translate extracellular guidance information into directional movements. Despite the important role of growth cones in neuronal development and regeneration, relatively little is known about the topography and mechanical properties of distinct subcellular growth cone regions under live conditions. In this study, we use...

Government regulations to address technological risks are important for the successful development and application of nanotechnology, but there is an ongoing debate in the USA about who is responsible for the regulation of nanotechnology. In a mail survey of leading US nano-scientists, we examine scientists’ perceptions about nano-regulation, including the government level (local, national, or ...

Three nano-porous NiO samples with high specific surface area were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method under homogeneous precipitation conditions using CTAB as a template and urea as the hydrolysis controlling agent. This study was done to determine the effect of different anions (acetate, nitrate and chloride) present in the precursor salts on the morphology and pseudocapacitance behavior...

Controlling and improving neuronal cell migration and neurite outgrowth are critical elements of tissue engineering applications and development of artificial neuronal interfaces. To this end, a promising approach exploits nano/microstructured surfaces, which have been demonstrated to be capable of tuning neuronal differentiation, polarity, migration and neurite orientation. Here, we investigat...

We discuss the influence of surface structure, namely the height and opening angles of nano- and microcones on the surface wettability. We show experimental evidence that the opening angle of the cones is the critical parameter on sample superhydrophobicity, namely static contact angles and roll-off angles. The textured surfaces are fabricated on silicon wafers by using a simple one-step method...

In this paper, the design, fabrication and experimental analysis of a piezoelectrically actuated micro squeeze flow rheometer is presented. Being only 30x30x0.5 mm in size, the micro rheometer is sensitive to very small volumes of the order of 1-10 nano-litre of liquid and light enough to operate at frequencies in the kHz regime, an order of magnitude higher than normally attainable with conven...

Fluid channels with inclined solid walls (e.g. cone- and slit-shaped pores) have wide and promising applications in micro- and nano-engineering and science. In this paper, we use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the mechanisms of water infiltration (adsorption) into cone-shaped nanopores made of a hydrophobic graphene sheet. When the apex angle is relatively small, an external...

The effects of transition metals on the hydrophobicity of nano–structured layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and the compatibility of LDHs/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) composites have seldom been reported. NiMgAl–LDHs slightly surface–modified with stearate and doped with transition metal cations (Mn2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Zn2+) are investigated. Compared to the pure EVA, not only were the maximal degrad...