nanofibers tagged posts

A Spartan-led team is developing an inexpensive biopolymer dressing to heal injuries like diabetic foot ulcers that affect millions of patients all over the world.

Tens of millions of patients around the world suffer from persistent and potentially life-threatening wounds. These chronic wounds, which are also a leading cause of amputation, have treatments, but the cost of existing wound dressings can prevent them from reaching people in need.

Now, a Michigan State University researcher is leading an international team of scientists to develop a low-cost, practical biopolymer dressing that helps heal these wounds.

“The existing efficient technologies are far too expensive for most health care systems, greatly limiting their use in a timely manner,” said Morteza Mahmoudi, an as...

The artificial cartilage is very flexible yet resistant to tearing. Credit: Joseph Xu, Michigan Engineering

The unparalleled liquid strength of cartilage, which is about 80% water, withstands some of the toughest forces on our bodies. Synthetic materials couldn’t match it – until “Kevlartilage” was developed by researchers at the University of Michigan and Jiangnan University. “We know that we consist mostly of water – all life does – and yet our bodies have a lot of structural stability,” said Nicholas Kotov, the Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor of Engineering at U-M, who led the study. “Understanding cartilage is understanding how life forms can combine properties that are sometimes unthinkable together.”

Many people with joint injuries would benefit from a good replacement for ...

Interfacial Donor–Acceptor Nanofibril Composites for Selective Alkane Vapor Detection

Alkane fuel is a key ingredient in combustible material such as gasoline, airplane fuel, oil – even a homemade bomb. Yet it’s difficult to detect and there are no portable scanners available that can sniff out the odorless and colorless vapor. But University of Utah engineers have developed a new type of fiber composite for a handheld scanner that can detect small traces of alkane fuel vapor, a valuable advancement that could be an early-warning signal for leaks in an oil pipeline, an airliner, or for locating a terrorist’s explosive. It involves two nanofibers transferring electrons from one to the other.

“These are 2 materials that interact well together by having electrons transferring from one to an...