QUT Awarded $1.3 Million to Develop Nano-Sensors

Summary posted by Meridian on 5/20/2009
Source: Queensland University of Technology
Author: n/a

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, has received a US$1 million grant from the State Government to create a new class of solar-powered nano-sensors capable of detecting pollution and monitoring the environment in remote areas. The nano-sensors will consist of carbon nanotubes covered with sensing molecules, and nanowires of metallic oxide, resulting in a sensor with a huge surface exposure that is more sensitive than conventional flat sensors. The device, which could be placed where needed and is in a self-contained box, is powered by solar cells. Nunzio Motta, lead researcher and professor in QUT's School of Engineering Systems, said the sensors have the potential to revolutionize current farming and environmental management techniques, adding that up until now it has been too costly and difficult to collect and monitor data about the environmental conditions in remote areas. Motta said "[T]hese sophisticated nano-sensors which we are developing and which will use very little power, will provide a more accurate picture of what is happening in the environment, and will help farmers monitor their crops in remote areas....This will provide a low-cost method to monitor air, water, land and crop conditions, and assist in the control of pollution levels and gas and carbon emissions." The article can be viewed online at the link below.

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our team contact us site map	QUT Awarded $1.3 Million to Develop Nano-Sensors Summary posted by Meridian on 5/20/2009 Source: Queensland University of Technology Author: n/a The Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, has received a US$1 million grant from the State Government to create a new class of solar-powered nano-sensors capable of detecting pollution and monitoring the environment in remote areas. The nano-sensors will consist of carbon nanotubes covered with sensing molecules, and nanowires of metallic oxide, resulting in a sensor with a huge surface exposure that is more sensitive than conventional flat sensors. The device, which could be placed where needed and is in a self-contained box, is powered by solar cells. Nunzio Motta, lead researcher and professor in QUT's School of Engineering Systems, said the sensors have the potential to revolutionize current farming and environmental management techniques, adding that up until now it has been too costly and difficult to collect and monitor data about the environmental conditions in remote areas. Motta said "[T]hese sophisticated nano-sensors which we are developing and which will use very little power, will provide a more accurate picture of what is happening in the environment, and will help farmers monitor their crops in remote areas....This will provide a low-cost method to monitor air, water, land and crop conditions, and assist in the control of pollution levels and gas and carbon emissions." The article can be viewed online at the link below. The original article may still be available at www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi-bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEvent... As tagged by Meridian Institute: Energy: Solar Implications: Human Enhancement, Governance, Economic Competitiveness Nanomaterials: Carbon Nanoparticle, Metal Nanoparticle Regions: East and South Asia and the Pacific Stakeholders: Government, Academia Minerals And Metals: Metals Food And Agriculture: Agriculture, Crops, Sensors Related Forums: Metals and Minerals Food and Agriculture Economic Competitiveness Governance print format	NDN Home Subscribe Manage Subscription Search News Archives Understanding Public Debate on Nanotechnologies: Options for Framing Public Policy -- The Innovation Society (2/8/2010) The Governance and Ethics Unit of the Directorate General for Research (DG Research) of the European Commission (EC) has published an overview paper on options for framing public policy on nanotechnologies. [More] UN Patent Filings Dropped for 1st Time Since 1978 -- ABC news (2/8/2010) The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an entity through which a company can, for a fee, file a request for patent protection in any or all of the 142 countries that have subscribed to the U.N.'s Patent Cooperation Treaty, reported that the number of international patent filings dropped last year for the first time since 1978. [More] TECHNOLOGY: Science Panel Probes Renewable Energy's Current Use of China's Rare Metals -- Environment & Energy Daily (2/8/2010) A United States House of Representatives Science and Technology subcommittee this week will hold a hearing on rare earth mineral production and the resource's role in the growing clean energy industry. [More] Nanofood for Thought -- Nature Nanotechnology (2/5/2010) This editorial, in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is in response to the recent report, "Nanotechnologies and Food", released in January by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, United Kingdom, that criticized the food industry for failing to be transparent about its research into the uses of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. [More] More News... Learn how to include these headlines on your own website by clicking here. Please email us if you require text-only versions of the daily emails.