There is NanoChannels…and nanochannels

Written by Luisa Filipponi, PhD – Scientific Consultant to NanoChannels

There are many ways of communicating nanotechnologies to the public, like newspaper articles, online article, social media, blogs, radio broadcasts, focus groups, round table events, and in this project we will use all of these, hence the name of it, “NanoChannels”. But there is more in this name.  Nanochannels are extremely small “tunnels”, having their internal diameter in the order of 1-100 nm. Scientists use them to deliver, monitor, and guide molecules. A nanochannel can be made of a polymer, a semiconductor, or carbon atoms, like carbon nanotubes; or it can be the hollow space inside nano-porous materials, kind of “sponges” having thousands of nanochannels in their structure. These materials can act as tissue scaffolds, to induce cellular regrowth, for instance to support the regrowth of bone cells. Ordered arrays of nanochannels are studied as new electrodes for lithium batteries to replace conventional graphite to improve the capacity and lifetime of the battery.
The space inside a nanochannel, like a carbon nanotube, can be used as a very small “test tube” where to perform chemical reactions: the space is so small that very ordered rows of molecules can be created. These crystal structures often have interesting mechanical or conducting properties.
Finally, nanochannels can be used for studying the behaviour of some biomolecules, like DNA, and for controlling their movement in an extremely small confined space. These studies are important for developing some very small diagnostic devices that require the separation of numerous biomolecules and for basic understanding of DNA structure and function. The study of fluid motion in nanochannels (nanofluidics) is also very important as it is totally different than in conventional “micro” channels.