Throw away the detergent and forgo the elbow grease: pesky proteins can now be removed from surfaces by simply exposing them to light, thanks to a reusable titania template.

Polymer nanoparticles that release medicine at controlled rates inside cells have the potential to enhance the efficacy of many clinical drugs. Researchers have now developed an eye-catching way to evaluate the performance of different polymer drug-delivery formulations using luminescent quantum dots as imaging labels.

‘SINGLE’ is a new imaging technique that provides the first atomic-scale 3-D structures of individual nanoparticles in solution. This is an important step for improving the design of colloidal nanoparticles for catalysis and energy research applications.

Hexagonal boron nitride bends electromagnetic energy in unusual and potentially useful ways. Physicists recently found that nanoscale granules of the material can store light. Now they have shown that the trapped light, polariton rays, propagate along paths at fixed angles with respect to the atomic structure of the material and at certain ‘magic’ frequencies form simple closed orbits. The insight could guide the development of applications such as nanoresonators, hyperlenses or infrared photon sources.

A study showed that scientists can wirelessly determine the path a mouse walks with a press of a button. Researchers created a remote controlled, next-generation tissue implant that allows neuroscientists to inject drugs and shine lights on neurons deep inside the brains of mice.

Engineers have combined two promising solar cell materials together for the first time, creating a new platform for LED technology. The team designed a way to embed strongly luminescent nanoparticles called colloidal quantum dots into perovskite.

Dermatologists have found that the release of nitric oxide over time may be a new way to treat and prevent acne through nanotechnology.

Three-dimensional structures of boron nitride sheets and nanotubes may offer a way to keep small electronic devices cool, according to scientists.

Millimetre-sized crystals of high-quality graphene can be made in minutes instead of hours using a new scalable technique, researchers have demonstrated.

Scientists coated nanospheres of the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel with a peptide shell that shields the drug as it travels through the circulatory system. When the nanosphere reaches a cancerous tumor, enzymes that enable metastasis slice open the shell to release the drug. The targeted delivery allowed them to safely give mice 16 times the maximum tolerated dose of the clinical formulation of paclitaxel and halted the growth of cancerous tumors.