National Enabling Technologies Program

Windows—the next solar panels

Nanotube coatings on windows could deliver green energy to homes and offices in a few years.

Silicon, which is used extensively in solar cells, can conduct electricity and, after some processing, can convert light energy directly into electrical energy. However, this processing is very energy intensive and it currently takes solar photovoltaics about ten years of service to produce the energy required to make the device.

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Sunscreens go nano

CSIRO scientist Dr Maxine McCall is testing sunscreens containing nanoparticles to assess the safety of these products.

Sunscreens have long contained bulk particles of zinc and titanium oxides as their active ingredients to absorb or reflect damaging ultraviolet light. In contrast to chemical absorbers, such as octyl methoxycinnamate, the oxides work over most of the ultraviolet band. These oxides appear white on the skin, but at a nanoscale they are clear.

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Tiny particles could assist in breast cancer screening

Blood tests using nanoparticles carrying molecules which can detect breast cancer biomarkers could save millions of lives and open the way to mass screening for many cancers.

Over a million new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and the number is rising. “Early detection is a life saver,” says Matt. “About 90 per cent of cancer patients will survive beyond five years as long as the cancer is detected and treated early. In the late stages of the disease, that figure can drop to 10 to 20 per cent.

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Nano-magnets to guide drugs to their target

Microscopic magnets ferrying drugs through the bloodstream directly to diseased tissue are a new ‘green chemistry’ product which will improve health and the environment.

A team led by Prof. Colin Raston, of the University of Western Australia fabricated the nano ‘bullets’ which can be directed by an external magnetic field to specific parts of the body. The new technology will enable doctors to send the drugs directly to the disease site, leaving healthy tissue intact and minimising toxic side-effects.

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From Roman nanocrystals to new gold catalysts

Two thousand years ago Roman glass blowers used gold nanocrystals to create vases with brilliant colours ranging from red to purple. Today, gold nanocrystals are being used as catalysts in chemical reactions and may even become high-density data storage devices.

Gold nanocrystals aren’t gold in colour. They change colour as their size and shape change.

A team led by Prof. Paul Mulvaney, at the University of Melbourne, is using gold nanocrystals as a colour-coded catalyst.

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