Randomly Nomadic

As some may know I've been living in Barcelona, Spain, with my boyfriend and my cat for the past year. It was a big decision, to leave the UK, where I could have started working almost right away, to bet on a project that could have been (and wasn't). 

The fact is that I came back to the UK, after a year of getting by, teaching English (and not enjoying it), doing translations (and being jealous of the work other people were doing in science) and even working at a restaurant (where I had the worst working experience of my life). I had almost no money and wasn't able to enjoy the city properly.

I felt very defeated, to be honest, I really thought my qualifications would allow me to find a job in science in Barcelona, even though they are going through a very intense economy crisis and science is paying the price. I was idealistic and naive, I always wanted to live in Barcelona, I wanted to follow my love for the city and my boyfriend and give it a try. The fact is, my relationship worked very well but Spain gave me a big blow. 

I found a job in the UK after 1 month of searching. It had been a year since I had left and I couldn't let more time pass by. I was lucky, I know. But even though I'm back in a lab, with a salary, doing research, there was something that made me feel bad. Then I read Nomadic Matt's blog and it changed the way I saw this past year. The fact is, it wasn't I waste of time. I did odd jobs I had never done before, and I know teaching full time is not for me. I also tried living in Barcelona, which was a dream of mine, and even though it didn't work out the way I planned at least I tried, and I wont be thinking "what if..." . I met amazing people I would be friends with for a long time. My relationship with my boyfriend got better and stronger, we realized that no matter what life will bring we can deal with it together. 

All in all, I don't regret it, I had hard times, but I also had good times. Now I can say that I tried, and even though I failed, at least I wont wonder what would have been to live in a gorgeous city like Barcelona. 

Wish me luck in my new life! 

Top 10 things nanotechnology has made smaller and better

I've talked about nanotechnology before. Here, I'll talk about different products and technologies that are currently using nanoparticles or nanomaterials, and that have been improved by this area of science.

10- Fuel additives

Fuel price is the most important reason why fuel efficiency needs to be improved. Fuel additives goes in place number 10, because new green energy sources are being researched at the moment using nanomaterials, which is much better for the environment in the long run and will be much cheaper. 

At the moment, it has been shown that adding cerium oxide nanoparticles to fuel reduces the amount of fuel used, it also helps decomposition of unburnt hydrocarbons and soot, and reduces the amount of pollutants emitted in the exhaust. This technology is currently used in the UK, for buses.

One disadvantage to the use of nanoparticles in this matter is the emission of particles to the environment. These particles are likely to accumulate in the environment, in particular in roadside areas, which will result in pollution.

9 –  Construction

Nanomaterials can be very interesting to the construction industry, the provide very durable, long-lived and lightweight construction materials. Very good novel insulation nano-materials are already available on the market, and they seem to improve energy efficiency. Surface coatings are also available and being used currently, these coatings promise to conserve resources, for example water, energy and cleaning agents. Because of their high prices, the reality is that nano- products are still not very widely used in the conservative construction industry, which for the time being prefers to rely on proven, conventional products.

They are mostly used in four sectors, cement-bound construction materials, noise reduction and thermal insulation or temperature regulation, surface coatings to improve the functionality of various materials, and fire protection.

8- Cosmetics – from sunscreen to anti-aging cream

One very important use of nanomaterials in cosmetics is sunscreens. Titanium dioxide and zinc dioxide nanoparticles are currently being used in sunscreens (especially in Australia) to block UVA and UVB light very efficiently, as well as to make sunscreens less oily and spread better on the skin without leaving residues.  

Another important use is to deliver active ingredients in anti-aging screens more easily. Vitamin C, for example, is an antioxidant used to fight skin damage due to age, which works best below the top layer of skin. In bulk form, vitamin C is not very stable and is difficult to penetrate the skin, and the nano form will improve this. Nano emulsions, which means mixing two unblendable liquids – like vinegar and oil, are being used as anti-aging sprays to transport beneficial compounds deep into the skin and in high concentrations. Nano gold is used in one moisturiser available in the UK, they allege that it has healing and anti-oxidant properties.

7- Wound treatment/ antibacterial activity

It is well known that silver has antibacterial properties and is used for wound healing and burn treatment. Reducing the size of materials by using nanoparticles increases the efficiency and improves their properties. So, incorporating silver nanoparticles into the wound bandages will improve their healing properties. 

Because of these antibacterial properties, silver nanoparticles are also being used in many products, like refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioning, toys, pacifiers, clothing, food storage, etc.

6- Sports

Because of their strength and lightweight, nanoparticles are being added to sporting goods. Nanomaterials are being used in tennis rackets, which contain carbon nanotubes to make them extremely strong as well as light, also in golf clubs and shoes. Some shin-pads for footballers are made with nano-structured plastics. Floyd Landis won the Tour de France on a bicycle which had a nano-based plastic frame, and now mountain bikes with these frames are available in the market. Footballs and tennis balls are being improved by using nano-clays, which are barrier materials and retain pressure.

Clothing and fabrics are also being enhanced by nanomaterials, from antibacterial socks, using silver nanoparticles, to waterproof jackets (and sails for boats) and wind resistant clothing that is breathable – for higher temperatures.

5- Sensors and electronics

One thing that nanotechnology has been making better is transparent electronics. Highly flexible and transparent electronic devices will rely on essentially invisible electronic and optoelectronic circuits.  Nanopaper has started to replace plastic substrates because is lightweight and also low-cost and versatile.This nanopaper, made from cellulose like normal paper, has a surface that is less rough and has a much higher transparency than traditional paper. Nanopaper transistors have been made, by Liangbing Hu, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland.

Silicon nanomembranes are also being researched to make systems that match the mechanics of the epidermis, and take the full three dimensional shapes of the fingertip as well as other appendages or even internal organs, like the heart. This technology is known as fingertip electronics.

Top: Turning the tube inside out relocates the array on the inner surface of the finger-tube, shown here at the midway point of this flipping process. Bottom: Multiplexed array of electrotactile stimulators in a stretchable, mesh geometry on the inner surface of an elastomeric finger-tube. (Images: Rogers Group, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Quantum dots and silicon are being used to make LEDS, and a wide range of products, including lamps, displays and photovoltaics.

4- Environmental clean up

Clean water is a big concern in many countries in the world, where water sources are scarce and contaminated. Nanotechnology has proven already to be an inexpensive and efficient source of water treatment.

It has been found that magnetic rust nanoparticles bind to arsenic; the rust and arsenic can then be lifted out of the water by using only a handheld magnet. Also, iron based nano-filters have been developed as a low cost alternative to carbon-based filters. Iron filters can remove large volumes or chlorine and mercury, amongst other contaminants.

3- Technology – microchips

Some of you might not remember bulky and heavy cell phones and big and slow computers, but some of us do. Nanotechnology has been the key in making machines smaller with a larger memory. Silicon-based chips have improved speed and capacity of different devices for the last five decades.  The switches are becoming smaller and smaller, achieving dimensions with widths of just a few atoms.

Home computer in the 50's

First cellphone

Cellphone evolution

 Currently, I.B.M. physicists and chemists are working with carbon nanotubes, which are single sheets of carbon rolled into tubes, to improve conductivity and reduce size even further. A paper was published in October 2012 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, where the researchers created patterned arrays of nanotubes on a surface, they would stick nanotubes in some areas and left other areas untouched.

2- Clean energy

To avoid further contamination and reduce energy prizes it is very important to find new and clean sources of energy. Nanotechnology has been a big part of finding more efficient and smaller new energy sources. With very small nanoparticles we can harvest very large amounts of energy.

In 2013 Nano Letters published "Toward Large-Scale Energy Harvesting by a Nanoparticle-Enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerator", the researchers found a mechanical energy-harvesting technique – a triboelectric nanogenerator – which effectively converts ambient mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Above, the schematic and (b) photograph of a fabricated triboelectric nanogenerator. (c) SEM image of gold nanoparticles coated on gold surface. (d) Process flow for fabricating the nanogenerator. (Reprinted with permission from American Chemical Society)

Solar cells are also an important source of clean energy, many researchers are investigating the development of flexible solar cells to improve efficiency and lower manufacturing costs. The biggest problem is that inorganic solar cells have an efficiency of more than 10%, while flexible polymer solar cells still show a low efficiency (6 – 7%), this needs to be improved. A review paper in ACS NANO ("Nanoimprinted Polymer Solar Cell") talks about imprinted solar cells, which is a method that could improve the efficiency of both organic and inorganic solar cells.

Graphene has also shown great potential in the area of solar cells, which would be inexpensive, lightweight and flexible. Graphene would also improve supercapacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and catalysis for fuel cells.

1.- Medicine  - drug delivery

This has been an area in which nanotechnology has been very important since the beginning. It is clear that most of the active ingredient of drugs is lost in the process of the delivery, through pills, injection, etc., with nanotechnology there has been a constant search to improve the targeting of organs and improve efficiency.

In March 2013 Researchers at the School of Medicine of the University of Washington found that nanoparticles could carry a toxin found in bee venom and were able to destroy human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and didn’t harm the surrounding cells. They plan to develop a vaginal gel that can be used as a preventive measure to stop the initial infection.

Nanoparticles (purple) carrying melittin (green) fuse with HIV (small circles with spiked outer ring), destroying the virus’s protective envelope. Molecular bumpers (small red ovals) prevent the nanoparticles from harming the body’s normal cells, which are much larger in size. 

Targeted drug delivery can also be achieved by using magnetic nanoparticles are coated with certain biocompatible polymers, coupled with anticancer drugs and later guided by an external magnet to the desired organ.

Rare metals

These are some gorgeous pictures I found on tumblr. These are naturally occurring crystal formations. 

Bismuth

Flourite

Azurite/ Malachite

Pietrisite

Hafnium

Molecular gastronomy - where food and lab meet

Chemistry is a big part of our lives, even if we don’t realize it. Mixing ingredients, putting them in the oven and getting a completely new thing is actually a very complex reaction. But beyond just the science of food there’s the search of many chefs to be ahead of times when it comes to cooking, and molecular gastronomy is a very controversial and different type of cooking.  

Fruit caviar 

Hervé This and Nicholas Kurti felt the need to investigate cooking in a different way. Both had scientific background but a love of food and cooking, and most important, curiosity about what happens when you cook. They are the fathers of molecular gastronomy as a research area, which is different from food science, it takes advantage of many scientific principles used there but on a smaller scale, such as the use of emulsifiers. Molecular gastronomy could be considered a branch of food science, but food science is concerned with analysing the chemical makeup of food and developing methods to process food on a large scale.  

The term has now been adopted to describe a style of cuisine. Many have incorporated unconventional ingredients to their cooking to bring different textures and flavours to their creations. Pictured above is a ‘fruit caviar’ which was first developed by Ferran Adrià, the chef of El Bulli Restaurant in Catalonia, Spain. The technique is known as spherification, which involves making liquid-filled beads that explode in the mouth. Spherification relies on a simple gelling reaction between calcium chloride and alginate, a gum like substance extracted from brown seaweed.  Chef Adrià is one of the most important names in molecular gastronomy, as well as Chef Heston Blumenthal from London’s ‘TheFat Duck’, pictured bellow.

Chef Heston Blumenthal

Using liquid nitrogen to achieve fluid-filled fare is another popular technique. When food is exposed to extremely low temperatures it will be frozen on the surface, liquid in the centre. The technique is typically used to develop semi frozen desserts. It is also common for molecular gastronomists to play with food flavours, making very strange flavour combinations, such as strawberry and coriander, pineapple and blue cheese, and cauliflower (caramelized) and cocoa. They have learned that foods sharing similar volatile molecules -- those that leave food as a vapour in a similar way -- taste good when eaten together.

Many other techniques are used in this style of cuisine, such as making foams by using hydrocolloids or carbon dioxide, thermal immersion circulator for sous-vide (low temperature cooking), food dehydration, using syringes to inject fillings, amongst others.

Even though this style of cooking is popular to date, there has been plenty of controversy around it. Some people think the additives are unhealthy and some ingredients have been banned in countries like Italy. There has also been controversy when it comes to the name, some chefs don’t want to be associated with the name “Molecular gastronomy” and some do. And also, very important representatives of this type of cuisine have distanced themselves lately from this style of cuisine; chef Ferran Adrià announced that he will close his restaurant.  If you are against or in favour of this type of cooking, one thing can be agreed, molecular gastronomy shows how science and cooking can go hand in hand to create new things. It brings the lab to our tables and can satisfy the curiosity of a lot of people. Is the movement dead? It’s too early to tell, this young style of cooking might only be evolving. 

Personally, I am very curious about it, being a chemist and all, I really want to go to a molecular gastronomy restaurant, which I haven't been able to do, plus, I would love to get my hands on some of the equipment to make my own little master pieces at home, the kits can be found on Amazon.

Nanoparticles and you

Not many people guess that I'm a chemist. Yes, I even have a PhD that I just finished at the University of Birmingham (UK). I want to share an article that I wrote for www.satnavmag.org (Satnav magazine, a student run scientific magazine for the general public), it was published in July 2010.

Nanoparticles and you

What comes to mind when you hear the word nanoparticles? Some people might think of killer nanobots that will attack the planet, such as in The Prey by Michael Crichton, where they infect our brains and create a zombie infested world. The truth is far from that. In actual fact, nanoparticles are all around us right now, found in some of the things that we use every day.

So what are they?

Nanoparticles are usually defined as particles that range between 1 and 100 nm in size. A nanometre (nm) is one thousand millionth of a metre or 0.000000009 m, so it is pretty small! To illustrate this, the size of a human hair is between 25000 nm and 180000 nm wide, and bacteria are around 100 nm in diameter. Approximately ten hydrogen atoms in a line make up one nanometre.

How long have they been around?

Nanoparticles have been used for a very long time. It is just that we have only recently begun to understand what they are. Gold nanoparticles, which are red when they are as small as nanometres, were used in the past to stain glass. Medieval artisans made stained glass by mixing gold chloride into molten glass. They created tiny gold spheres that absorbed and reflected sunlight in a way that produced a variety of colours, without truly knowing what they were making. The artisans knew that by putting varying and tiny amounts of gold and silver in the glass, they could produce the effects found in stained-glass windows.

The Lycurgus Cup, which was made by the Romans, dates to the fourth century AD (Shown bellow). When viewed in reflected light (in daylight), it appears green, and when a light is shone into the cup and transmitted through the glass, it appears red.

The Lycurgus Cup from Roman times containing gold nanoparticles exhibited at the British

Museum, here displayed under different light sources.

When were nanoparticles first synthesised? 

Nanoparticles were first synthesised by Anthony Turkevich in the early 1950s, who incidentally was the same man that first determined the composition of the moon’s surface. Ever since then they have been widely used as contrast agents for electron microscopy (used during imaging examinations to highlight specific parts of the body and make them easier to see), cancer research and as carriers for drugs.

Silver antibacterial nanoparticles

Silver nanoparticles are widely used because of their antibacterial properties; silver acts against the bacteria by destroying or deactivating the enzymes that allow oxygen intake of the organism, and by destroying the cell membrane. As a result, the organism’s DNA cannot make replicas of itself, let alone create possible resistant strains. Silver nanoparticles are also non-toxic and don’t suppress the immune system. Socks, paints, bandages, and food containers incorporate nanosilver to exploit its antimicrobial properties. In clothing such as socks, nanosilver may restrict the growth of pungent bacteria.

Nanoparticles in clothes

Garments coated by silver, gold and palladium nanoparticles were shown at a fashion show in New York in 2007. The work was performed by designer Olivia Ong (Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design from the College of Human Ecology), and the nanoparticle coated fabrics were made by Professor Juan Hinostroza.

One garment is claimed to prevent colds and flu and never needs washing (as bellow on the left of the image), and another destroys harmful gases and protects the wearer from smog and air pollution (as shown below on the right of the image). 

The dress (left) is made of cotton covered with silver nanoparticles that can deactivate bacteria. The hood, sleeves and pockets of the jacket (right) contain palladium nanoparticles that act as catalysts to reduce the negative effects of pollution.

Dipping positively charged cotton into a negatively charged silver nanoparticle solution resulted in the particles clinging to the cotton fibers. Firstly, positively charged cotton fibers were made by using ammonium and epoxy based reactions, which served to induce positive ionization. The silver particles, which are about 10-20 nanometres across, were synthesized in citric acid which prevented the nanoparticles from sticking together. The resultant colors are not the product of dyes, but are instead reflections of manipulation of particle size or arrangement. The problem with these types of fabrics is their price; for 90 cm2 of the fabric you would have to shell out 10,000 American dollars!

Nanoparticles in appliances 

In addition, Samsung has incorporated silver nanoparticles into a washing machine, which is known to release the particles during washing. They penetrate deeply into all kinds of fabrics, creating a protecting coat of sterilisation for a maximum of 99.99% disinfection, as well as an added antibacterial effect which can last for up to 30 days after washing. These nanoparticles are also used in fridges and air-conditioning, in order to prevent bad smells.

Other uses

Another commonly used nanoparticle is silicon oxide. Silicon oxide nanoparticles are used in the cosmetic industry, for biomedical applications and also in solar cells. Cerium oxide nanoparticles have recently been used in the petrol industry where they are added to diesel to reduce fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions (CO2), and particulate emissions.

Nanoparticles of iron oxide are very interesting because of their magnetic properties, and are widely used for medical applications. Over 300 sun creams in the market today contain titanium oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles. By replacing traditional forms of ZnO and TiO2 with nanoparticles of these substances, manufacturers can reduce the visibility of the cream paving the way for ‘invisible’ sun cream.

What are the effects of nanoparticle use?

One of the biggest issues with nanoparticles is their possible toxicity and effect on the environment after they have been disposed. Regulatory bodies in the U.S. and Europe have started dealing with the potential risks

posed by nanoparticles, however neither engineered nanoparticles, nor the products and materials that contain them are subject to any special regulation regarding production, handling or labelling. It is therefore highly important to study the adverse effects and to both quantify and minimize them, both for environmental protection and to ensure the long term sustainability of the nanotechnology industry, along with its associated benefits. A lot of research is being done at the moment to assess those effects on humans, animals and the environment. Every day new uses for these tiny particles are found, and soon they may play a much bigger part in our lives than could have ever have been previously imagined.

Not having a sense on smell

One thing about me that people are very surprised about when they learn about it is that I don't really have a sense of smell. It comes and goes. I've been diagnosed with inflamed turbinate. I'm not so sure about that. I saw on Embarrassing bodies (if you haven't seen the show, google it, I'm totally hooked) that Dr Pixie had the same problem I do and she has nose polyps, which to me makes much more sense than the turbinate. Oh yeah, I'm at that point, self - diagnosing. 

Anyways, living in Barcelona and teaching has meant that I got to know the city the hard way: traveling on public transport non-stop till the end of the universe. I'm ok with it, really. Another thing people are surprised about (especially if they are Venezuelans) is the fact that I can't drive. So that leaves public transport, which in Barcelona is pretty decent I must say, it works well and it's usually well conected, especially if you master the buses, which I have by now. 

At this point in my life, I honestly like not having  a sense of smell, but what tends to happen is that it comes and goes in bad moments, for example: I'm very excited about a free seat on the metro or on the bus (when the bus is packed - that should tell me something) and then I sit down and my almost non-excisting sense of smell comes. Why does it do that? It cannot come when I'm enjoying a pizza or having a nice cup of coffee, it has to come when the guy next to me has unbearable B.O or when I'm passing by a sewage - NICE. I had a girl next to me not long ago that smelled like onions and garlic (which I can recognise because I hate onions and garlic is very intense), of course the smell came to me after I was already sitting there for like 5 minutes, to late to leave, and I must say I'm the worst actor when it comes to hidding my distaste for a smell. 

It's also embarrasing that I never know what a smell is, I can't recognise almost any odour because I don't have any memory of it. I know citric, coffee, I have learned recently how sewage smells (thank you Barcelona, for giving me that - not), onions, garlic, and I can't think of much more, maybe some flowers and maybe a perfume, that I honestly couldn't recognise by name if I smelled it on the street. I can only say "it smells good/ bad", that's about it. Mostly, I can never smell anything, which is also embarrassing when you date. Your date gets all nice and dressed up, puts on some cologne, and expects a compliment, and from me they get nothing, only a "you look nice". This fact has made some men freak out a little, including my boyfriend. He came to visit me in Birmingham from Barcelona when we started dating and had some cologne on, which of course I never smelled (to this day), after 2 days I casually told him "I can't really smell much, usually nothing" and he started laughing - "that's why you never commented on my cologne!" 

So that's the story of my nose, that has gotten me in very embarrassing moments. It can be good and bad, I get seats all the time in the metro and I tend to be ok, my sense of smell comes back very seldomly. That bad part is when everyone says something smells nice and of course your nose doesn't work that day, and you miss it. Not having an odour memory tells me it's ok not to have a sense of smell, I don't have the good but I don't have the bad! - for me that's worth it (especially on the metro)!