Viruses

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Virus particles (known as virions) consist of two or three parts: the genetic material made from eit...

Penn State Researchers Develop 2D Bilayer Materials Using Graphene and Boron Nitride

By Nick Gilbert A research team at Penn State has developed a two-dimensional (2D) bilayer material by integrating one-to-two-atom-thick graphene layer with a hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layer...

Nanomaterials: Chemical peel

Molten hydroxide causes hexagonal boron nitride sheets to peel off and curl up into nanoscrolls

New technique builds graphene-boron sheets without substrate

Engineers at Cornell University have invented a way to pattern single atom films of graphene and boron nitride, an insulator, without the use of a silicon substrate. The technique, called patterned...

Giant osmotic energy conversion measured in a single transmembrane boron nitride nanotube

New models of fluid transport are expected to emerge from the confinement of liquids at the nanoscale, with potential applications in ultrafiltration, desalination and energy conversion. Nevertheless,...

Graphene films could make atomically thin circuits

Researchers have patterned single atom-thick films of graphene and an insulator, boron nitride, without the use of a silicon substrate.

Controlled homocatenation of boron on a transition metal

Mild, controllable homocatenation of many elements is a considerable challenge, usually due to their low homonuclear σ-bond enthalpy. This is particularly difficult for boron, despite its high homonu...

Cross-sectional imaging of individual layers and buried interfaces of graphene-based heterostructures and superlattices

Heterostructures of very thin films have been used for decades in research and industry. Now a transmission electron microscopy study demonstrates the possibility of realizing perfect structures built...

Rice technique points toward 2-D devices

HOUSTON (Jan. 28, 2013) Rice University scientists have taken an important step toward the creation of two-dimensional electronics with a process to make patterns in atom-thick layers that combine a...

Dispersible shortened boron nitride nanotubes with improved molecule-loading capacity.

The oxidation process of boron nitride nanotubes was thoroughly investigated, and a slow oxidation characteristic was clearly revealed. Subsequently, the controllable oxidation process was utilized to...

Electronic structures and transport properties of fluorinated boron nitride nanoribbons.

By applying the nonequilibrium Green's functions and the density-functional theory, we investigate the electronic structures and transport properties of fluorinated zigzag-edged boron nitride nanoribb...

Effective mechanical properties of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets.

We propose an analytical formulation to extract from energy equivalence principles the equivalent thickness and in-plane mechanical properties (tensile and shear rigidity, and Poisson's ratio) of hexa...

Potential applications of boron nitride nanotubes as drug delivery systems.

In recent years, there has been an explosion of research in the 'bio-nano' field, with the discovery and introduction of ever more fascinating materials for applications as drug delivery systems, sens...

Melting of cubic boron nitride at extreme pressures.

Due to its large pressure range of stability and inert nature, cubic boron nitride has been proposed as a potential pressure standard for high pressure experiments. It is extremely refractive upon com...