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

A team of environmental scientists has, for the first time, used a dynamic, two-step process to completely degrade a common flame-retardant chemical, making it nontoxic.

Researchers have found that spraying a gel on the internal tissues of animals after cardiac surgery greatly reduces fibrous bands that form between internal organs and tissues. Such fibrous bands can cause serious, even fatal, complications. The gel, developed to deliver medications, was far more effective than materials currently on the market, the researchers said.

Researchers have found that spraying a gel on the internal tissues of animals after cardiac surgery greatly reduces fibrous bands that form between internal organs and tissues. Such fibrous bands can cause serious, even fatal, complications. The gel, developed to deliver medications, was far more effective than materials currently on the market, the researchers said.

Laboratories use surfactants to separate things and fluorescent dyes to see things. Rice University chemists have combined the two to capture images of single nanotubes or cells as simply as possible.

Laboratories use surfactants to separate things and fluorescent dyes to see things. Rice University chemists have combined the two to capture images of single nanotubes or cells as simply as possible.

An international team of researchers has revealed a new way of reducing carbon dioxide to methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, eliminating an intermediate step usually needed in the reduction process.

An international team of researchers has revealed a new way of reducing carbon dioxide to methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, eliminating an intermediate step usually needed in the reduction process.

Engineers at Lehigh University are the first to use a single enzyme biomineralization process to create a catalyst that uses the energy of captured sunlight to split water molecules to produce hydrogen. The synthesis process was performed at room temperature and under ambient pressure, overcoming the sustainability and scalability challenges of previously reported methods.

Engineers at Lehigh University are the first to use a single enzyme biomineralization process to create a catalyst that uses the energy of captured sunlight to split water molecules to produce hydrogen. The synthesis process was performed at room temperature and under ambient pressure, overcoming the sustainability and scalability challenges of previously reported methods.

While watching the production of porous membranes used for DNA sorting and sequencing, University of Illinois researchers wondered how steplike defects formed during fabrication could be used to improve molecule transport. They found that the defects – formed by overlapping layers of membrane – make a big difference in how molecules move along a membrane surface.