Nano Briefs

More efficient LEDs for a brighter future
Illumination accounts for much of world energy use, but the efficient production of light is notoriously challenging. Photons must be generated from semiconductor nanostructure layers and take a specific path away from their source to be extracted as light; otherwise, they are reflected back and dissipated as heat. Thus, the U.S. Department of Energy has launched a major initiative addressing solid state lighting technology.

Particle flows: "Not all stirring is equal"
Particles in flows are found everywhere, from sediment in rivers to blood cells in veins and even to windblown leaves in the backyard. Determining how these systems behave, and what causes some particles to mix well while others segregate from the fluids through which they're flowing, can have profound implications.

A clarity in adhesion, "beautifully conceived"
Interfacial fluid mechanics had its genesis when Chaudhury discovered that droplets can be made to migrate on surfaces.

A sub-nanoscale leap in reactivity
New evidence shows that some metal-oxide catalysts achieve an additional and dramatic increase in reactivity at the extreme low end of the nanoscale, in dimensions measuring 1-2 nanometers or less.