Garry Golden

Bio-energy (protein electron transfer), Purdue’s biomass energy appliance, solid hydrogen storage, rapid nanotube assessment, ‘ultimate microscope’, nano ‘rachet’, microfluidics, bio-computing, nanoparticle coatings, RFIDs, mesh networks, India’s R&D workforce, micro-payments…

Energy

· Breakthrough in understanding protein electron transfer…(*****)
We are only at the beginning of understanding the molecular dynamics of electron based energy – especially in biological systems. This is the type of fundamental research that could launch a new industry in bio-based energy:

“I think we have discovered the physical framework for thinking about all such protein electron-transfer chemistry,” Beratan said. “Having this rule book in place will let scientists pose some hard but interesting questions about evolutionary pressures on protein structures.”Another payoff may be new insight for designing biologically based artificial systems that, for instance, can capture solar energy or make fertilizer from air,” Link from Eureka Alert

· Scientists at Purdue University have developed a portable generator that uses trash as its primary fuel source….
– Nice step forward towards the development of ‘appliances’ for home or industrial site use. This type of system could fit nicely in agricultural/food factories… Purdue is a top notch engineering school that has produced more than a handful of energy related breakthroughs in recent years… Link

· New aluminum hydride storage material developed
There is growing support for focusing our efforts on solid state hydrogen storage… it offers many advantages over gaseous and liquid based storage. Solid storage is divided along physical versus chemical bonds… (more on that later) but we must be clear that solid state storage of hydrogen is viable in the near term. It is a safe, dense way to store electrons without major energy losses.
Link from ScienceDaily (a favorite scanning source…!)
Also – widely report news on ethylene-titanium storage Link


Neutron probe yields break in superconductor mystery for certain metals… Link from Eureka Alert

· Trina Solar Signs Long-Term Agreement for Polysilicon Supply with DC Chemical - If you are looking to understand where the solar markets are going – keep your eye on supplier partnership for core materials for crystalline & organic systems. Link from Azom.com

· World Record Solar Cell Efficiency (40.7%) Achieved with the Help of Veeco Instruments Inc.
–Boeing’s Spectrolab has been making news…worth watching - Link from Azom.com

Materials

• · NIST announces method for rapid assessment of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)

This ability to assess CNTs based on their chirality (how the tube folds upon itself) is a big step towards higher volume CNT production. Other organizations have made similar claims so it is too early to pick winners in terms of standard practices. But the fact that chemical engineers are reaching the same conclusions – is promising for materials scientists. Link from Physorg.com

• ‘Ultimate microscope’ in sight –

“….British scientists have announced a breakthrough in x-ray microscopy which could be used to picture individual atoms in living cells without using a lens. The method, they claim, marks significant progress towards the ‘ultimate microscope’, with the potential to reach the greatest resolution allowed by an x-ray’s wavelength: a span of around 0.1 nanometres, roughly the width of a single carbon atom. …” Link from RSC

• · Nanoscale ‘Rachet’ moves molecules in one direction… Link from RSC Publishing

• · Patent news in the world of nanoscale materials / carbon nanotubes… Still a mess but lawyers are doing their best to work out licensing agreements and moving towards commercial scale production. Link from TinyTechip blog Link II

• · Hydrogel plugs for microfluidics – could help in development of environmental sensors…and other micro-channel arrays
  (UW-Madison researchers) Link

OLEDs / Solid State systems

• · Flexible OLED manufacturing partnerships between Polymer Vision and Innos Link from PRW.com

• · … world’s first nonpolar blue-violet laser diode developed by UCSB Researchers Link from Azom.com

Bio Age – Enabling the Age of Synthetic Biology

• A few projects that could generate as much innovation as the Human Genome project:

· Microbial Genome Sequencing Project – Funded by Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and J. Craig Venter Institute.
– Among other things… Venter believes we can synthesize microorganisms to ‘eat’ coal stack emissions and release hydrogen…

· The Human Metabolome Database for ‘small molecule chemicals (metabolites) produced by an organism.’
Source/link from Biotech Blog

• · Bio-computing? Chemical computing creates world’s densest data storage medium