Tracking wiggling biomolecules inside nanopores
One of the early breakthroughs for nanotechnology was its success in visualising individual atoms and molecules. Nowadays, we can not only visualise molecules, but also capture videos of how they move. Yet at the nanoscale, how do you know if such motion is related to...
Controlling optical response with designed electron temperature distributions in plasmonic nanostructures.
LCN researchers at King’s College London have discovered how to control light at ultrafast timescales by designing the distribution of energy of electrons in nanostructures. These metallic nanostructures are manmade materials that can have interesting optical...
Mechanical stability regulates the nuclear import rate of translocating proteins
The nuclear pore complex (NPC) is the primary transport gateway for biomolecules to enter and exit the cell nucleus. It has long been known that the passage of proteins through the NPC is highly size-selective, and it was recently shown that the nuclear import rate...
Plasmonic nanoparticles as photocatalysts: How much energy can they supply?
Catalysts play a key role in many industrial processes, as more than 85% of the energy consumed daily by our essential-routine devices is generated by processes that involve them. Recently, it has been found that under visible light illumination, metallic...