New material transforms light, creating new possibilities for sensors

“This process gives us a whole new way of designing materials”

22-Jun-2023 - A group of scientists and engineers that includes researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have created a new class of materials that can absorb low energy light and transform it into higher energy light. The new material is composed of ultra-small silicon nanoparticles and organic ...

How a CRISPR protein might yield new tests for many viruses

18-Jan-2023 - In a first for the genetic toolset known as CRISPR, a recently discovered protein has been found to act as a kind of multipurpose self-destruct system for bacteria, capable of degrading single-stranded RNA, single-stranded DNA and double-stranded DNA. With its abilities to target so many types of ...

Measurement of semiconductor material quality is now 100,000 times more sensitive

11-Apr-2019 - The enhanced power of the new measuring technique to characterize materials at scales much smaller than any current technologies will accelerate the discovery and investigation of 2D, micro- and nanoscale materials. Being able to accurately measure semiconductor properties of materials in small ...

More precise diagnostics for improved cancer outcomes

03-Jul-2017 - An important factor in fighting cancer is the speed at which the disease can be identified, diagnosed and treated. The current standard involves a patient feeling ill or a physician seeing signs of a tumor. These indicators lead to more precise diagnoses via blood tests, x-rays or MRI imaging. ...

Fingerprinting red wine

06-Dec-2010 - A sensor that can discriminate between different tannins and be used to fingerprint a wide variety of red wines to confirm their authenticity has been developed. US scientists report in Chemical Science that they made the sensor with colour-changing indicators. They used it to test wine samples ...

Tiny test tube experiment shows reaction of melting materials at the nano scale

19-Oct-2009 - Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have conducted a basic chemistry experiment in what is perhaps the world's smallest test tube, measuring a thousandth the diameter of a human hair. The nano-scale test tube is so small that a high-power electron microscope was required to see the ...

Engineers develop method to disperse chemically modified graphene in organic solvents

02-Apr-2009 - A method for creating dispersed and chemically modified graphene sheets in a wide variety of organic solvents has been developed by a University of Texas at Austin engineering team led by Professor Rod Ruoff, opening the door to use graphene in a host of important materials and applications such ...

Chemical engineers discover new way to control particle motion potentially aiding micro- and nano-fluid systems

19-Mar-2008 - Chemical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered a new way to control the motion of fluid particles through tiny channels, potentially aiding the development of micro- and nano-scale technologies such as drug delivery devices, chemical and biological sensors, and components ...

Controlling most atoms now possible

Scientists from the University of Texas at Austin open up new avenues of research using atomic coilguns and lasers

10-Mar-2008 - Stopping and cooling most of the atoms of the periodic table is now possible using a pair of techniques developed by physicist Mark Raizen at The University of Texas at Austin. Raizen stopped atoms by passing a supersonic beam through an "atomic coilgun" and cooled them using "single-photon ...