University of Manchester

Layered graphene sandwich for next generation electronics

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Sandwiching layers of graphene with white graphene could produce designer materials capable of creating high-frequency electronic devices, University of Manchester scientists have found.
Layered graphene sandwich for next generation electronics

Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers have demonstrated how combining the in a stack could create perfect crystals capable of being used in next generation transistors.

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), otherwise known as white graphene, is one of a family of two-dimension discovered in the wake of the isolation of graphene at the University in 2004. Manchester researchers have previously demonstrated how combining 2D materials, in stacks called heterostructures, could lead to materials capable of being designed to meet industrial demands.

Now, for the first time, the team has demonstrated that the electronic behaviour of the heterostructures can be changed enormously by precisely controlling the orientation of the crystalline layers within the stacks.

The researchers, led by University of Manchester Nobel laureate Sir Kostya Novoselov, carefully aligned two graphene electrodes separated by hBN and discovered there was a conservation of electron energy and momentum.

The findings could pave the way for devices with ultra-high frequencies, such as electronic or photovoltaic sensors.

The research was carried out with scientists from Lancaster and Nottingham Universities in the UK, and colleagues in Russia, Seoul and Japan.

Professor Laurence Eaves, a joint academic from the Universities of Manchester and Nottingham, said: “”This research arises from a beautiful combination of classical laws of motion and the quantum wave nature of electrons, which enables them to flow through barriers.

“We are optimistic that further improvements to the device design will lead to applications in high-frequency electronics.”

Professor Vladimir Falko, from Lancaster University, added: “Our observation of tunnelling and negative differential conductance in devices made of multilayers of and hexagonal boron nitride demonstrates potential that this system has for electronics applications.

“It is now up to material growers to find ways to produce such multilayer systems using growth techniques rather than mechanical transfer method used in this work.”

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-09-layered-graphene-sandwich-electronics.html#jCp

What can a graphene sandwich reveal about proteins?

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Stronger than steel, but only one atom thick – latest research using the 2D miracle material graphene could be the key to unlocking the mysteries around the structure and behaviour of proteins in the very near future.

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Scientists at The University of Manchester and the SuperSTEM facility, which is located at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), have discovered that the most fragile, microscopic materials can be protected from the harmful effects of radiation when under the microscope if they are ‘sandwiched’ between two sheets of . The technique could soon be the key to enabling the direct study of every single individual atom in a , something yet to be achieved, and revolutionise our understanding of cell structure, how the immune system reacts to viruses and aid in the design of new antiviral drugs.

Observing the structure of some the tiniest of objects, such as proteins and other sensitive 2D materials, at the atomic scale requires a powerful electron microscope. This is exceptionally difficult because the radiation from the can destroy the highly fragile object being imaged before any useful data can be accurately recorded. However, by protecting fragile objects between two sheets of graphene it means they can be imaged for longer without damage under the electron beam, making it possible to quantitatively identify every single atom within the structure. This technique has proven very successful on the test case of a fragile in-organic 2D crystal and the results published in the journal ACS Nano.

During this research, the team of scientists, which included Sir Kostya Novoselov, who shared a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for exploiting the remarkable properties of graphene, were able to observe the effects of encapsulating a microscopic crystal of another highly fragile 2D material, molybdenum di-sulfide, between two sheets of graphene. They found that they were able to apply a high electron beam to directly image, identify and obtain complete chemical analysis of each and every atom within the molybdenum di-sulfide sheet, without causing any defects to the material through radiation.

The University of Manchester’s Dr Recep Zan, who led the research team, said: “Graphene is a million times thinner than paper, yet stronger than steel, with fantastic potential in areas from electronics to energy. But this research shows its potential in biochemistry could also be just as significant, and could eventually open up all sorts of applications in the biotechnology arena.”

Professor Quentin Ramasse, Scientific Director at SuperSTEM added: “What this research demonstrates is not so much about graphene itself, but how it can impact the detail and accuracy at which we can directly study other inorganic 2D materials or highly fragile molecules. Until now this has mostly been possible through less direct and often complicated methods such as protein crystallography which do not provide a direct visualisation of the object in question. This new capability is particularly exciting because it could pave the way to being able to image every single atom in a protein chain for example, something which could significantly impact our development of treatments for conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and HIV.”

New research to revolutionise understanding of lung cancer.

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IN A WORLD first, a new Cancer Research UK study will unlock lung cancer’s secrets, tracking in real time how lung tumours develop and evolve as patients receive treatment.

In one of the largest ever studies of lung cancer patients globally, this pioneering project will examine exactly how lung cancers mutate, adapt and become resistant to treatments.

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The nine year, £14 million, UK wide study – called TRACERx (Tracking Cancer Evolution through Therapy) and launched today by Cancer Research UK – will receive one of the single biggest funding commitments to lung cancer. Researchers will recruit 850 lung cancer patients* from across the UK and take samples of their tumour before and following surgery and subsequently if the disease recurs.

Biopsies will be taken from different parts of each patient’s tumour and analysed with the latest technology to give a more comprehensive genetic profile. Different parts of a tumour can evolve independently, so a sample from one region alone might contain different genetic changes to another sample, elsewhere in the tumour.

Lung cancer has been difficult to study as it can be hard to access and take samples of tumours. An earlier Cancer Research UK innovation means that patients will also have blood tests to examine DNA from the cancer that might be circulating in the bloodstream.

Researchers will then be able to compare genetic changes within and between patients, record how the treatment changes the genetic profile of their disease, and how this ultimately affects the patients’ chances of survival.

The combination of these techniques will give an unprecedented insight into lung cancer and allow researchers to identify and understand the precise genetic makeup of lung cancers. The results will also lay the foundations for being able to offer patients treatment that is tailored to the specific genetic makeup of their cancer.

This landmark study will bring together more than 65 lung cancer researchers in the UK, including oncologists, pathologists, laboratory researchers and technicians based in hospitals, universities and research institutes.

The research centres taking part in the study are: University College London, Velindre Cancer Centre Cardiff, Birmingham University Hospital, Leicester Hospital, Cancer Research UK’s Paterson Institute for Cancer Research at The University of Manchester, The Christie Hospital in Manchester andUniversity Hospital South Manchester and the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
University College London Hospital will be leading the thoracic surgery for the research.

The study marks the start of a new Cancer Research UK initiative to beat lung cancer sooner which will also see the funding of a new centre of excellence in lung cancer research.

Scientific advances have helped more people survive cancer than ever before. But progress has not been consistent across all cancer types, and some have lagged behind.

One of these is lung cancer – which is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK, and only nine per cent of patients survive their disease beyond five years.

Cancer Research UK plans to change this by investing heavily in lung cancer in the coming years. The new initiative will help focus attention on lung cancer and galvanise the research community, drawing in existing lung cancer experts and opening doors for new talent.

Professor Charlie Swanton, lead researcher based at Cancer Research UK’s London Research Institute and University College London, said: “Success in treating lung cancer has been difficult to achieve but we’re hoping to change that. The first step to improving cancer diagnosis and treatment is to understand more about the disease and how it changes over time. Research has led us to this point when, after decades of earlier work, we can look to the future with real optimism. We plan to harness new sequencing technologies to trace the genetic evolution of cancer over the course of the disease. Our research will help explain why lung cancer is difficult to treat, and steer a path towards saving more lives.”

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Lung cancer kills more people than any other type of cancer. We want to change this. For too long, success against the disease has been slow. We’re determined to unlock the secrets of the disease, to understand its biology, to develop more accurate tests to diagnose it and discover better treatments for people.

Around 42,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK every year, with around 35,000 deaths from the disease. TRACERx will help to improve the understanding of the disease and ultimately the outlook for patients and their families.

Robert Peston, BBC’s business editor, has a personal connection to lung cancer and said: “Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer, and can afflict any of us, old or young, smokers or non-smokers. I know this only too well because my non-smoking wife, Sian Busby, died last year at the age of 51. Unfortunately, as Sian and I learned, medical science’s understanding of this terrible disease lags behind knowledge of other cancers. That is why the planned genetic analysis of many hundreds of lung cancer tumours, of the TRACERx programme being announced today, feels like an important and positive development.”

Lawrence Dallaglio OBE, retired English rugby union player and former captain of the English national team, said: “Lung cancer is a devastating disease for patients and their families. Far too many people still go through what my family had to face after my mother was diagnosed with the illness. Cancer Research UK’s commitment to beating lung cancer will help improve the outcome for patients in the future. This is a big project with a powerful goal – to understand this complicated, dreadful disease. More needs to be done to help more people beat lung cancer.”

Dr Kumar added: “TRACERx is key to achieving a better outcome for lung cancer patients. Our researchers will revolutionise what we know of the disease, how we think about it and ultimately will help us to save lives. Our commitment to beating lung cancer is only possible with the generous support of people from across the UK. ”

Source: http://www.cancerresearchuk.org

Pregnancy rhesus disease errors too common.

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Some pregnant women are being denied a routine treatment to protect their unborn child, say investigators.

A simple injection can prevent a life-threatening condition known as rhesus disease, which occurs if the mother and her baby have incompatible blood groups.

All pregnant women should be screened and any found to have rhesus-negative blood should be offered the anti-D jab.

A UK-wide audit of NHS hospitals shows this is not happening.

Avoidable errors

Over a period of 15 years from 1996 to 2011 there were 1,211 errors where women who should have received immediate treatment with the anti-D injection did not.

Rhesus disease

  • Also known as haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN)
  • Happens when the mother has rhesus-negative blood (RhD-negative) and the baby in her womb has rhesus-positive blood (RhD-positive)
  • Because these two blood groups are incompatible, the mother’s immune system sees the baby as “alien” and switches to “destroy” mode
  • Women who are RhD-negative should receive the anti-D jab to stop them making antibodies that could attack the baby
  • All pregnant women should be screened to check if they are RhD-negative

In half of these cases, the woman either did not receive the treatment at all or received it late – mostly because the nurse, midwife or doctor on duty at the time failed to follow basic protocols.

Laboratory errors accounted for just over a quarter of the cases.

In a fifth of cases, the anti-D was given entirely inappropriately – either mistakenly to the wrong mother or to a woman who did not need it.

In nine cases, babies suffered the full-blown effects of the disease. One died and three needed blood transfusions.

The study authors from the University of Manchester are concerned that anti-D errors are still too common despite clear treatment guidelines.

Lead researcher Dr Paula Bolton-Maggs said: “Our findings show that over the 15 year reporting period the same mistakes were being made repeatedly by clinical and laboratory staff.

“These are clinically significant problems that require active attention at a national and local level as reported errors could be avoided by putting in place appropriate checks.”

Louise Silverton, of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said: “We welcome this audit report.

“The RCM expects each maternity unit to have systems in place to ensure that all women requiring the anti-D prophylaxis injection receive it regardless of their length of postnatal stay, especially where they live outside the unit’s catchment area.

“This is especially important given the increase in births and pressure on maternity services.

“We need more midwives and more midwifery visits in the community so they can administer anti-D at home under the agreed time limits and spend time with women after they have given birth.”

Source:BBC