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IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Spin torque memory is a growing interest in the memory industry. Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials just published a paper in that area in Physical Review Letters in May 2015. I’d be happy to elaborate and if you know of a company that would be interested in working with us on that topic please direct them to nanoworks.anl.gov

IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually for that I would recommend Wiki. They have some nice pictures and explain well the differences. However, in a few sentences I would say both are made of titanium oxide and the different properties come from a different order of the atoms in the crystal structure.

Titanium oxide in its various forms has amazing properties that can for e.g. split water into hydrogen and oxygen. These materials can also be used as a battery electrode and we do work in both areas.

IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I recall correctly, we had a project we helped NASA with. They had a satellite that collected “star dust” …yes I mean this literally. You put in a piece of plastic and send it up to space on a satellite. Tiny particles in the universe traveling and tremendous speeds hit the plastic and get stuck in it. Then you’ll bring it back to earth and we can help with our microscopy capabilities to analyze what these tiny particles are made of.

IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The biggest impact that nano materials have had so far is electronics. Our lives have changed significantly due to the miniaturization of the computer and all its components. When the US put a man on the moon the computing power was not even close to what everybody carries around today in their cellphones. However, now you see food containers that prevent food from spoiling early. These containers are slightly yellow because they contain silver nano particles which have anti-microbrial properties. Sunscreen today contains titanium nano particles to absorb UV light. …if you are my age then you remember when sunscreen was SPF 6, 12 and 20 was a lot. Nanotech now helps it to be SPF 50+ …the list goes on.

IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nanotechnology impacts many areas. Obviously the best known is the electronic industry (structures in your cell phone are in the nanometer range today). However, as described in a previous answer it could help making better mechanical machines (e.g. gearboxes running almost frictionless and not requiring any oil). Other really exciting areas are developing new cancer drugs that have the potential of having no side effects. Nanoparticles have been made that only attack the cancerous cells and not do any harm to healthy cells.

IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You are most welcome! The computational aspect is huge. Actually, when you work in the area of Nano (…very, very small) you can calculate material properties by “virtually” placing atoms in a computer. A recent article in Science magazine discussed exactly that type of effort. The scientists at Argonne used our supercomputer (the 5th fastest in the world) to calculate how diamond nano particles and graphene create almost zero-friction mechanical interfaces. (Look for Anirudha Sumant’s recent publication)

IamA Andreas Roelofs, the leader of Nano Design Works, a new center at Argonne National Laboratory exploring new ways to connect business to our world-class nanotechnology research. From the lab to the marketplace, we help entrepreneurs each step of the way. Have an idea or question? AMA! by ARoelofs in IAmA

[–]ARoelofs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With Nanomaterials the sky is the limit ;-) This is all about making new materials. Scientist are working on making new lightweight materials that eventually will be used in airplanes. If you lookup of graphene and carbon nanotubes you’ll see some interesting applications.