Nanotechnology and Design

Anti Reflective Coatings Reflection is one major reason why it is difficult to read a phone screen in bright sunlight. Many of today’s smartphones use a sensor to detect bright environmental light and then increase the screen brightness level enough to overcome the strong surface reflection. But there is a limit to how bright the screen can go and the obvious over consumption of energy is notable.   In order to find a simpler approach to improve screen readability outside, researchers turned to nature. Biomimicry is the design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities and processes. Often these designs made with biomimetics is more versatile and efficient than the designs we came up with on our own.   The surface of moth’s eyes are covered with an unusual natural nanostructured film which eliminates reflections. This allows moths to see well in the dark without giving away their location from light reflecting off of...

Graphene Filters As explained in a previous post, graphene is a  graphene is an ultra-light yet immensely tough material that is 200 times stronger than steel. It is transparent as well as being the thinnest material possible and is an incredibly flexible conductor that can act as a perfect barrier which not even helium can pass through.   Scientists at the University of Manchester have developed a solution to one of our global problems with graphene: turning ocean water into potable drinkable H2O. Currently there are at least 1.2 billion people living in areas with insufficient potable water. This new discovery can quickly and easily turn one of our most abundant resources, seawater, into one of our most scarce — clean drinking water.   The new technique uses a new graphene-oxide membrane as a sieve that filters out salt molecules from water. The concept of using graphene-oxide membranes for desalinization isn’t new but this is the first successful a...

Neural Sensors This week in class we learned about different types of sensors. We also participated in a lab in which we made sensors that can detect the amount of sugar in a liquid. Delving deeper into such detectors, I looked at devices made out of biocompatible material that can be put into human bodies. Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley succeeded in creating the very first dust-sized wireless sensors that may be implanted within the body. These sensors do not require batteries. The device is powered through capturing the tiny amounts of energy that are emitted by smart phones and tablets, which use near-field communications (NFC). This is a type of technology that requires electromagnetic induction among antennae that are located inside portable devices.   The “neural dust” is implanted in the muscles and peripheral nerves of rats and is unique due to its use of ultrasound. Ultrasound vibrations are able to penetrate just about everywhere within t...