Nanotangles could be the future for laboratory equipment manufacturers

Tangles of nanoscale ropes could be a key component in future production methods for laboratory equipment manufacturers.

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are working on nanotangles, braids of nanoscopic polymers that can assemble themselves into wispy structures.

These could in turn be used for applications ranging from drug delivery to scaffolding larger, more complex structures - like the wires used by laboratory equipment manufacturers in their devices.

Scientists at the facility drew their inspiration from nature's own designs, which are highly functional and display significant levels of intricacy.

In turn, they hope to achieve some of the robustness seen in nature, with materials resistant to extremes of temperature and humidity.

The latest development is the ability to layer sheets of polypeptoids into stacks which then coil into DNA-like double helices 600 nm across.

Research conducted at the laboratory includes a number of projects funded under the Recovery Act, which is intended to stimulate the US economy in the wake of the recession.