News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a highly printable bioink as a platform to generate anatomical-scale functional tissues. Bioprinting is an emerging additive manufacturing approach that takes biomaterials such as hydrogels and combines them with cells and growth factors, which are then printed to create tissue-like structures that imitate natural tissues. The researchers developed advanced bioinks that contain nanosilicates – nanoparticles that are 1–2 nm in thickness and 20–50 nm in diameter – and provide more effective reinforcement, which results in stronger structures. 

Scientists at Texas A&M University have developed a highly printable bioink as a platform to generate anatomical-scale functional tissues. Bioprinting is an emerging additive manufacturing approach that takes biomaterials such as hydrogels and combines them with cells and growth factors, which are then printed to create tissue-like structures that imitate natural tissues. The researchers developed advanced bioinks that contain nanosilicates – nanoparticles that are 1–2 nm in thickness and 20–50 nm in diameter – and provide more effective reinforcement, which results in stronger structures. 

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have determined how negatively charged ions squeeze through a carbon nanotube. Determining which of these ions are permeable to the nanotube pore can be critical to many separation processes, including desalination, which turns seawater into fresh water by removing the salt ions.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have determined how negatively charged ions squeeze through a carbon nanotube. Determining which of these ions are permeable to the nanotube pore can be critical to many separation processes, including desalination, which turns seawater into fresh water by removing the salt ions.

Using a new approach for "click" chemistry, a collaboration of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, the Max Planck Institute, the Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, RWTH Aachen University, and Freie Universität Berlin have designed self-organizing nanovesicles that can have their surfaces decorated with similar sugar molecules as viruses, bacteria, or living cells. This work provides a new tool for studying how certain pathogens use these sugar molecules to evade detection by a host's immune system.

Using a new approach for "click" chemistry, a collaboration of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, the Max Planck Institute, the Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, RWTH Aachen University, and Freie Universität Berlin have designed self-organizing nanovesicles that can have their surfaces decorated with similar sugar molecules as viruses, bacteria, or living cells. This work provides a new tool for studying how certain pathogens use these sugar molecules to evade detection by a host's immune system.

Researchers from Penn State, the University of Virginia, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with industry partners Solvay and Oshkosh, have found a way to strengthen carbon fibers, which are widely used in the airline industry but are typically very expensive. Using a mix of computer simulations and laboratory experiments, the team found that adding small amounts of graphene to the production process not only strengthens the fibers, but also reduces their production cost, which may one day pave the way for higher-strength, cost-effective car materials.

Researchers from Penn State, the University of Virginia, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in collaboration with industry partners Solvay and Oshkosh, have found a way to strengthen carbon fibers, which are widely used in the airline industry but are typically very expensive. Using a mix of computer simulations and laboratory experiments, the team found that adding small amounts of graphene to the production process not only strengthens the fibers, but also reduces their production cost, which may one day pave the way for higher-strength, cost-effective car materials.

By using powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, a team of researchers from Singapore and Ireland looked at the wing casings of two fossilized weevils (a species of small beetle) from the late Pleistocene era. They found that the photonic nanostructures of crystal-like material that scatter or diffract light on the weevils’ wings were perfectly preserved, indicating that the blue and green structural colors of these weevils has not changed in 13,000 years.

By using powerful X-rays at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, a team of researchers from Singapore and Ireland looked at the wing casings of two fossilized weevils (a species of small beetle) from the late Pleistocene era. They found that the photonic nanostructures of crystal-like material that scatter or diffract light on the weevils’ wings were perfectly preserved, indicating that the blue and green structural colors of these weevils has not changed in 13,000 years.