NANO @ IOWA
News from the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute at UI
July 16, 2015
Items in red are new this issue.
(Others are carried forward from previous issues.)
1. Upcoming conferences and seminars including nanoscience and nanotechnology:

“Improved Theoretical Prediction of Nanoparticle Stability and the Synthesis,
Characterization, and Application of Gold Nanoparticles of Various Morphology in
Surface-Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy”
Lahiru Wijenayaka, Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa
Monday July 20, 2.30-4.30pm, Pappajohn Business Building, S401, 21 East Market
Street

ICANM 2015: International Conference & Exhibition on Advanced & Nano Materials
Ottawa, Canada
August 10-12, 2015
http://icanm2015.iaemm.com/Home.php

ICEENN 2015: 10th International Conference on the Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles
and Nanomaterials
Vienna, Austria
September 6-10, 2015
https://nanoenvironment2015.univie.ac.at

4th International Conference and Exhibition on Materials Science & Engineering
Orlando, Florida
September 14-16, 2015
http://materialsscience.conferenceseries.com/#

SPIE: Scanning Microscopies
Monterey, California
September 29 – October 1, 2015
http://spie.org/x104030.xml

International Symposium on Clusters and Nanomaterials (ISCAN)
Richmond, Virgina
October 26-29, 2015
http://www.iscan.vcu.edu

SETAC North America 36th Annual Meeting
Salt Lake City, Utah
November 1-5, 2015
http://www.setac.org/events/event_details.asp?id=489394&group=

5th International Conference on Nanotek and Expo
San Antonio, Texas
November 16-18, 2015
http://nanotechnologyexpo.conferenceseries.com/
2. Upcoming grant opportunities and funding requests in nanoscience and nanotechnology:

University of Iowa GAP Funding
UIVentures, University of Iowa
Deadline dates: Pre-proposal June 1 – July 31, 2015; Full proposal: July 1 – August 31, 2015
http://uiventures.uiowa.edu/university-iowa-gap-funding

Science, Technology, and Society
National Science Foundation
15-506
Deadline Date: August 3, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5324

Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary Research Program of the
University Research Initiative
Department of Defense
ONR-15-FOA-0011
Deadline Dates: September 8, 2015 (Letter of Intent); December 7, 2015 (Full proposal)
http://grantbulletin.research.uiowa.edu/dod-university-multidisciplinary-research-initiativemuri-including-collabrations-united-kingdom

NSF: Science of Science and Innovation Policy
National Science Foundation
PD 09-7626
Deadline Date: September 9, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=501084

Nanomanufacturing
National Science Foundation
PD 14-1788
Deadline Dates: September 1 – September 15, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13347

Bioengineering Research Grants
National Institutes of Health
PAR-13-137
Deadline Date: September 25, 2015
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-13-137.html

Use of the NASA Physical Sciences Informatics System
NASA
NNH15ZTT001N-15PSI_A
Deadline Date: September 30, 2015
http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method=init&solId={88074AD32C25-81A8-6EED-D87C6C7459D1}&path=open

Nanomaterials Health Implications Research (NHIR): Comprehensive Evaluation of
Interactions between Engineered Nanomaterials and Biological System
National Institutes of Health
RFA-ES-15-013
Deadline dates: October 5, 2015 (Internal deadline); November 30, 2015 (Proposal deadline)
https://research.uiowa.edu/grantTrack/preselection.php?get=uiwins&GrantID=18105&Type=2

Nano-Biosensing
National Science Foundation
PD 14-7909
Deadline dates: October 1 – 20, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503353

Interfacial Processes and Thermodynamics
National Science Foundation
PD 14-1414
Deadline dates: October 1 – 20, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13362

Fluid Dynamics
National Science Foundation
PD 14-1443
Deadline dates: October 1 – 20, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13365

NSF: Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology
National Science Foundation
PD 14-1179
Deadline dates: October 1 – 20, 2015
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=501030

Electronics, Photonics and Magnetic Devices
National Science Foundation
PD 13-1517
Deadline Dates: October 1 – November 2, 2015
http://nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13379

Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems
National Science Foundation
PD 13-7564
Deadline dates: October 1 – November 2, 2015
http://nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13381

NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program MRI Instrument Acquisition or Development
National Science Foundation
15-504
Deadline Dates: October 30, 2015 (Internal deadline); January 13, 2016 (Sponsor deadline)
https://research.uiowa.edu/grantTrack/preselection.php?get=uiwins&GrantID=18031&Type=2

Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE STEM)
National Science Foundation
15-528
Deadline Dates: December 8, 2015 (Internal deadline); February 16, 2016 (Sponsor deadline)
https://research.uiowa.edu/grantTrack/preselection.php?get=uiwins&GrantID=18060&Type=2

2015 Broad Agency Announcement Engineer Research and Development Center
Department of Defense
FOA Number: W912HZ-15-BAA-01
Deadline Date: January 31, 2016
http://nano.gov/node/1373

Army Research Laboratory BAA for Basic and Applied Scientific Research
Department of Defense
FOA Number: W911NF-12-R-0011
Deadline Date: March 31, 2017
http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?page=8

Image-guided Drug Delivery in Cancer
National Institutes for Health (NIH)
FOA Number: PA-09-253
Deadline Dates: January 25, May 25, and September 25, annually
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-09-253.html

Exploratory/Developmental Bioengineering Research Grants
National Institutes for Health (NIH)
FOA Number: PA-12-284
Deadline Dates: January 25, May 25, and September 25, annually
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-12-284.html

Development of Multifunctional Drug and Gene Delivery Systems
National Institutes for Health (NIH)
FOA Number: PA-10-048
Deadline Dates: February 5, June 5, and October 5, annually
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-048.html

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
FOA Number: PA-11-148
Deadline Dates: February 5, June 5, October 5, annually
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-148.html

Bioengineering Nanotechnology Initiative
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
FOA Number: PA-10-149
Deadline Dates: April 5, August 5, December 5, annually
http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=53500

Cancer Diagnostic and Therapeautic Agents Enabled by Nanotechnology
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
FOA Number: PAR-10-286
Deadline Dates: April 5, August 5, December 5, annually
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-286.html
3. Recent news and updates from NNI:

CHEM:5118:0001 Nanomaterials course Fall 2015
Basic principles associated with nanoscience and nanotechnology; fabrication and synthesis,
size dependent properties, characterization, applications of materials at nanometer length
scales, recent technological breakthroughs in the field. Open to graduate standing or advanced
undergraduate standing in engineering and science. See link for more information.
https://isis.uiowa.edu/isis2/courses/details.page?_ticket=lwAeVZm9rxtZ-QI_qZ5_vZCDYvyiRaJ&id=796170&ci=157310
4. Highlights of some new interesting nanoscience and nanotechnology research and articles:

Trapping individual metal nanoparticles in air
While there is a great deal of knowledge on optical manipulation of metallic nanoparticles in
liquids, aerosol trapping of metallic nanoparticles is essentially unexplored. In general, very
little is known about optical manipulation of any type of particle in air, where the physics
appear to be rather different than in water. For instance, the relation between laser power and
trapping strength is found to be linear in water but not in air. "The ability to manipulate and
study individual metallic or semiconductor nanostructures in air or vacuum would open up
many exciting opportunities," Lene Broeng Oddershede a professor at the Niels Bohr Institute,
University of Copenhagen, tells Nanowerk. "This includes, for example, the study of catalytic
processes, of heat transfer at the solid-gas interface at the nanoscale, or of the construction of
advanced nanostructures away from a surface where electron-beam lithography cannot be
used."
http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=40618.php

Pomegranate-like nanocomposites: The new avenue of graphene in water splitting
The looming fossil energy crisis and serious environment and climate issues urgently call for
sustainable energy systems and next-generation energy storage technologies. Instead of a
traditional "carbon cycle" based on fossil energy, the "hydrogen cycle" has emerged and may be
a promising alternative. With a water splitting device, H2 can be generated from water by
electricity or solar energy, and energy transforms between electrical/solar and chemical energy
in rechargeable batteries. However, the core issue of water splitting, oxygen evolution reaction
(OER) (4OH- —> 2H2O + O2 + 4e-, in base), is a kinetically sluggish half-reaction, which requires
a high overpotential and hinders the development of water splitting. Recently, a research group
from China, led by Prof. Qiang Zhang in Tsinghua University, has developed a novel
graphene/metal hydroxide composite with superior oxygen evolution activity. This work is
published in the journal Advanced Materials. On one hand, graphene is a material that exhibits
ultrahigh electrical conductivity, high surface area, and tunable 3D structures, which is
excellent for heterogeneous electrocatalysis. However, the intrinsic activity of graphene is
undesirable. On the other hand, NiFe layered double hydroxides (NiFe LDHs), with remarkable
catalytic activity, high stability, earth-abundant and environmental benign characters, are
regarded as the most promising nonprecious metal catalysts. "Therefore, the fine control of
NiFe LDH hybridization into a specific graphene substrate to obtain an increased
electrochemical active surface area (ECSA), fully exposed active sites, and an optimal interfacial
junction is the most promising recent topic towards superior oxygen evolution catalysis and
practical application," Prof. Qiang Zhang says.
http://phys.org/news/2015-06-pomegranate-like-nanocomposites-avenue-graphene.html

Heat buckyballs to help environment
Rice University scientists are forging toward tunable carbon-capture materials with a new study
that shows how chemical changes affect the abilities of enhanced buckyballs to confine
greenhouse gases. The lab of Rice chemist Andrew Barron found last year that carbon-60
molecules (aka buckyballs, discovered at Rice in the 1980s) gain the ability to sequester carbon
dioxide when combined with a polymer known as polyethyleneimine (PEI). Two critical questions
-- how and how well -- are addressed in a new paper in the American Chemical Society journal
Energy and Fuels. The amine-rich combination of C60 and PEI showed its potential in the
previous study to capture emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from such sources as
industrial flue gases and natural-gas wells. In the new study, the researchers found pyrolyzing
the material -- heating it in an oxygen-free environment -- changes its chemical composition in
ways that may someday be used to tune what the scientists call PEI-C60 for specific carboncapture applications. "One of the things we wanted to see is at what point, chemically, it
converts from being something that absorbed best at high temperature to something that
absorbed best at low temperature," Barron said. "In other words, at what point does the
chemistry change from one to the other?"
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150713103530.htm

Chemotherapeutic coatings enhance tumor-frying nanoparticles
In a move akin to adding chemical weapons to a firebomb, researchers at Duke University have
devised a method for making a promising nanoscale cancer treatment even more deadly to
tumors. The invention allows an extremely thin layer of hydrogels (think contact lenses) to be
deposited on the surface of nanoshells—particles about a hundred nanometers wide designed
to absorb infrared light and generate heat. When heated, these special hydrogels lose their
water content and release any molecules (such as drugs) trapped within. By depositing the
hydrogels on tumor-torching nanoshells and loading the new coating with chemotherapeutic
drugs, a formidable one-two punch is formed. The technique is described in a paper published
in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering on July 13, 2015, that was highlighted as
an ACS Editor's Choice. "The idea is to combine tumor-destroying heat therapy with localized
drug delivery, so that you can hopefully have the most effective treatment possible," said
Jennifer West, the Fitzpatrick Family University Professor of Engineering at Duke, who holds
appointments in biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering and materials science, cell
biology, and chemistry. "And many chemotherapeutic drugs have been shown to be more
effective in heated tissue, so there's a potential synergy between the two approaches."
http://phys.org/news/2015-07-chemotherapeutic-coatings-tumor-frying-nanoparticles.html
About NANO @ IOWA
NANO @ IOWA is a biweekly electronic newsletter to inform faculty, staff and students about important
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