Researchers Create New Organic Gel NanomaterialsJune 29, 2006Troy, N.Y. — Researchers have created organic gel nanomaterials that could be used to encapsulate pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic products and to build 3-D biological scaffolds for tissue engineering. Using olive oil and six other liquid solvents, the scientists added a simple enzyme to chemically activate a sugar that changed the liquids to organic gels. "We are using the building blocks provided by nature to create new nanomaterials that are completely reversible and environmentally benign," said Jonathan Dordick, the Howard P. Isermann '42 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "The importance of this finding is the ability to use the same naturally occurring enzyme both to create chemically functional organogels and to reverse the process and break down these gels into their biologically compatible building blocks." In the experiments, researchers activated a sugar using a simple enzyme, which generated a compound that self-assembles into 3-D fibers measuring approximately 50 nanometers in diameter. As the fibers entangle, a large amount of solvent gets packed together, trapping some 10,000 molecules. The resulting organogel materials could be used as biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineering and designing membranes, according to Dordick. Other possible applications include delivery systems for pharmaceuticals and preservatives for food and cosmetics. "The development of new materials that are molecularly defined and chemically functional at the nanoscale is of critical importance to biological applications such as drug delivery," said Dordick. "We are finding the natural world has provided tools to create these materials without the need to generate new compounds that may be harmful to the body or environment." The findings are currently available online in advance of print publication July 17 by the journal Angewandte Chemie. Dordick's research involves using enzyme technology to produce unique chemical structures with applications in drug discovery, materials science, and chemical technology. The research is led by Dordick and includes George John of the City University of New York; Guangyu Zhu, post-doctoral research associate at Rensselaer; and Jun Li of the University of Southern Mississippi. The paper is titled "Enzymatically Derived Sugar-Containing Self-Assembled Organogels with Nanostructured Morphologies." The funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation-funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) at Rensselaer, the Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures. Nanotechnology at Rensselaer In September 2001, the National Science Foundation selected Rensselaer as one of the six original sites for a new Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC). As part of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative, the program is housed within the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center and forms a partnership between Rensselaer, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The mission of Rensselaer's Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures is to integrate research, education, and technology dissemination, and to serve as a national resource for fundamental knowledge in directed assembly of nanostructures. The five other original NSECs are located at Harvard University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, and Rice University. Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer At Rensselaer, faculty and students in diverse academic and research disciplines are collaborating at the intersection of the life sciences and engineering to encourage discovery and innovation. Rensselaer's four biotechnology research constellations—biocatalysis and metabolic engineering, functional tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, biocomputation and bioinformatics, and integrative systems biology—engage a multidisciplinary mix of faculty and students focused on the application of engineering and physical and information sciences to the life sciences. Ranked among the world's most advanced research facilities, the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer provides a state-of-the-art platform for collaborative research and world-class programs and symposia. About Rensselaer Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, founded in 1824, is the nation's oldest technological university. The university offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences, information technology, architecture, management, and the humanities and social sciences. Institute programs serve undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals around the world. Rensselaer faculty are known for pre-eminence in research conducted in a wide range of fields, with particular emphasis in biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology, and the media arts and technology. The Institute is well known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace so that new discoveries and inventions benefit human life, protect the environment, and strengthen economic development. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
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| Related Nanomaterial Current Events and Nanomaterial News Articles NC State Develops Material That Could Boost Data Storage, Save Energy North Carolina State University engineers have created a new material that would allow a fingernail-size computer chip to store the equivalent of 20 high-definition DVDs or 250 million pages of text, far exceeding the storage capacities of today's computer memory systems. New insights into health and environmental effects of carbon nanoparticles A new study raises the possibility that flies and other insects that encounter nanomaterial "hot spots," or spills, near manufacturing facilities in the future could pick up and transport nanoparticles on their bodies, transferring the particles to other flies or habitats in the environment. Nanotech particles affect brain development in mice Maternal exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) affects the expression of genes related to the central nervous system in developing mice. Remote-control closed system invented for inserting radio-active atoms inside fullerenes Virginia Tech chemistry Professor Harry C. Dorn, Emory and Henry College chemistry Professor James Duchamp, and Panos Fatouros, professor and chair of the Division of Radiation Physics and Biology at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine have co-invented a hands-off process for filling fullerenes with radio-active material. Research explores interactions between nanomaterials, biological systems The recent explosion in the development of nanomaterials with enhanced performance characteristics for use in commercial and medical applications has increased the likelihood of people coming into direct contact with these materials. Scientists advance safety of nanotechnology Scientists have identified for the first time a mechanism by which nanoparticles cause lung damage and have demonstrated that it can be combated by blocking the process involved, taking a step toward addressing the growing concerns over the safety of nanotechnology. Novel approach estimates nanoparticles in environment Without knowing how much of an industrial chemical is being produced, it is almost impossible for scientists to determine if it poses any threat to the environment or human health. New Tool for Next-Generation Cancer Treatments using Nanodiamonds A research team at Northwestern University has demonstrated a tool that can precisely deliver tiny doses of drug-carrying nanomaterials to individual cells. Nano-sandwich Triggers Novel Electron Behavior A material just six atoms thick in which electrons appear to be guided by conflicting laws of physics depending on their direction of travel has been discovered by a team of physicists at the University of California, Davis. Working with computational models, the team has found that the electrons in a thin layer of vanadium dioxide sandwiched between insulating sheets of titanium dioxide exhibit one set of properties when moving in forward-backward directions, and another set when moving left to right. Revealing new applications for carbon nanomaterials in hydrogen storage An international research team, involving Professor Rajeev Ahuja at Uppsala University and researchers in the USA, set out to understand the mechanism behind the catalytic effects of carbon nanomaterials. More Nanomaterial Current Events and Nanomaterial News Articles |
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