Piran Kidambi, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, recently had two papers appear in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces and ACS Nano that respectively focus on a new approach to filter nanoparticles and explore ways to aid decarbonizing transportation.
The paper published August 29, 2022, in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces is about developing one atom thick filters that remove nanoparticles down to 5 nm—about 12,000 times smaller than human hair—from air streams. Such filters can enable applications for protecting soldiers and first responders from biological threats. The filters would also be less cumbersome than the devices some of those individuals currently use.
Kidambi said the current HEGA (High Efficiency Gas Absorption) filters in masks often used by soldiers and emergency officials are large, bulky, allow limited air flow and can strain a person’s neck during prolonged operation.
“They also often need auxiliary power to force air through the filter because it’s so dense,” said Kidambi. “We’re creating the thinnest possible filters—just one atom. This allows better air flow for breathability and sweat-based cooling but still blocks out particles down to five nanometers in size, much smaller than most viruses or other biological agents.”
The other paper published October 6, 2022, in ACS Nano explores ways to create ultra-thin membranes—one atom thick—for efficient and more sustainable transportation. Hydrogen is increasingly being looked at as a source of power because its combustion in a fuel cell releases only water into the atmosphere and not carbon dioxide like gasoline powered vehicles. Scientists believe excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the primary cause of global warming and climate change.
State-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell membranes allow some leakage of hydrogen that lowers fuel cell efficiency. The research published in ACS Nano presents a new approach to address this issue using the one atom thick material graphene.
“We discovered that freezing Angstrom-scale proton selective defects into one atom thick films of graphene can enable next-generation fuel cell membranes,” said Interdisciplinary Material Science graduate student Nicole Moehring, first author on the paper. “Stacking two such layers almost eliminated hydrogen leakage compared to conventional fuel cell membranes. We believe our technology offers new solutions to some of the persistent problems in this tech-space.”
News
Omicron subvariant BA.2 replicates faster in brain cells than other strains, study finds
Omicron subvariant BA.2 – which was dominant worldwide early this year, including in Hong Kong – replicates more swiftly than other strains and causes faster programmed cell death in human brains, a new study has found. [...]
Seeding the oceans with iron-rich fertilizer nanoparticles to store excess carbon dioxide
The urgent need to remove excess carbon dioxide from Earth’s environment could include enlisting some of our planet’s smallest inhabitants, according to an international research team led by Michael Hochella of the Department of [...]
Temporary graphene ‘tattoos’ that measure blood pressure
Blood pressure is a key vital sign that provides insight into our cardiovascular health. But blood pressure is typically measured only a few times per year by a clinician—and these measurements might not always [...]
Next Covid-19 Strain May be More Dangerous, Lab Study Shows
A South African laboratory study using Covid-19 samples from an immunosupressed individual over six months showed that the virus evolved to become more pathogenic, indicating that a new variant could cause worse illness than [...]
The Fast-Spreading New COVID-19 Subvariant XBB Is Part of a ‘New Class’ of Omicron
For the past several months, Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 have dominated COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But now, there’s a class of new COVID subvariants on the rise and one in particular is getting plenty of [...]
Overcoming challenges in the delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics
Nucleic acid therapies involving DNA or RNA have significant potential to treat genetic disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer; however, research suggests that less than 1% of injected nucleic acid doses reach target cells in [...]
FDA approves $3.5 million treatment for hemophilia, now the most expensive drug in the world
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug [...]
Wireless smart bandage promotes faster closure of wounds, enhances skin recovery
Some wounds just won’t heal. Infections, diseases like diabetes, and suppressed immune systems often stack up to slow healing. Chronic wounds can last months and lead to anxiety and depression. In the worst cases, [...]
Using Nanofibers to Guide the Development of Novel Biomaterials
Over the years, researchers have tried hard to comprehend topographic signals that promote cell mechanical sensitive responses. The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides a complex cellular microenvironment that controls cellular behavior. Nevertheless, only a few [...]
Measles now an imminent global threat due to pandemic, say WHO and CDC
There is now an imminent threat of measles spreading in various regions globally, as COVID-19 led to a steady decline in vaccination coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) [...]
Covid-19: Brain scans show new evidence of what could be causing long Covid
In a recent study, it was shown that people with long Covid have had physical changes to their brains several months after experiencing the initial infection. The study included MRIs of patients who continued [...]
Western University is building Canada’s secret weapon against the next pandemic
Western University in London, Ont., is building a unique research lab to study humanity's greatest viral threats — a secret weapon, if you will, one that it's expected would put Canada and the world in a better position if [...]
Cancer patients test world’s first ‘computer-designed’ antibodies, made in Israel
Cancer patients are testing a medicine made of antibodies that were designed from scratch on a computer in Israel and whose inventor has “programmed” them to “decide” whether cells surrounding tumors are bad or good. [...]
Corrosion-Resistant Superhydrophobic Graphene-Based Coatings on Copper Substrate
In an article published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers presented the potentiostatic deposition used to electrodeposit nickel (Ni) and nickel-graphene (Ni-G) films on copper substrates. Myristic acid (MA) was employed to alter the plane of the [...]
A chip to replace animal testing
New drugs made from nanoparticles that can easily penetrate any interface within our bodies are a great hope in medicine. For such hopefuls to reach the market, their safety must be ensured. In this [...]
Researchers develop new, heat-efficient nanoparticles for treating cancer
Oregon State University scientists have invented a way to make magnetic nanoparticles that get hotter than any previous nanoparticle, improving their cancer fighting ability. Faculty from the OSU College of Pharmacy spearheaded a collaboration [...]
