Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials

May 10-13, 2010

Nanotechnology Science Fair

Board of Trustees 2010כנס חבר הנאמנים התש“ע

Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials

The beginning of wisdom [is to] acquire wisdom, and with all your possessions acquire insight. (Proverbs 4:7)

The Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials (BINA*) is committed to advancing scientific achievement, the pursuit of academic excellence and inspiring scientific education within a vibrant, collaborative community of world-leading scientists. Charged with the mission to train students and faculty to meet the challenges of new scientific frontiers, BINA initiates groundbreaking innovation that has far-reaching ramifications in applied fields – playing a vital role in scientific research that is influencing the course of our future – in science, in industry, and in all walks of life.

*The word BINA, the acronym for the Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials, means “insight or understanding” in Hebrew.

Nanotechnology: Where Tiny Technologies Translate into Big Benefits

Scientists are fostering a future of health and prosperity by custom-designing new molecules and working with individual atoms. Their research is called nanotechnology, and it constitutes one of today’s most promising and most highly invested areas of research and development. The Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials is a global leader. It has recruited a multidisciplinary team of renowned, veteran researchers and today’s most brilliant, young scientists. Already, members of the team hold scores of patents on life-saving and life-enhancing innovations: medical treatments that seek out and destroy cancer and other diseases with no side effects; efficient, inexpensive solar power; super durable building materials and engine parts; long-life, environmentally sound rechargeable batteries; powerful computers and information networks; homeland security technologies; cheap methods of water purification and desalinization for use all over the world; and much more.

The newly-built Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Nanotechnology Triplex is an impressive tower of steel, stone and glass located in the center of a cluster of buildings housing the departments that make up BIU’s Faculty of Exact Sciences and Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences. With over forty laboratories employing advanced technological design on a scale unparalleled to date, the Triplex provides a state-of-the-art home for Bar-Ilan’s ambitious nanotechnology research initiatives.

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BINA Centers of Excellence

At BINA nanotechnology research efforts are concentrated within six core areas. Each research area has its own dedicated Center within the Institute. Following is a brief description of each center and a sampling of the research being performed by some of their scientists.

Booth 1

The Nano-Materials Center

The Nano-Materials Center excels in the design and synthesis of nano-materials with a variety of properties, including magnetism, conductivity, and fluorescence, which are then used to provide solutions in disciplines ranging from medicine and sanitation to security and energy. Prof. Chaim Sukenik, Director of the Nano-Materials Center, is a world-renowned pioneer in this field. His most recent achievements include developing thin film oxide coatings on Kapton (aerospace polymer), overcoming the oxidative degradation of these materials, enabling their use for satellite structures in low earth orbit.

Within the Center, Prof. Moshe Deutsch is studying the electrode-electrolyte interfaces produced by ionic liquids as promising electrolytes for battery systems. In an example of cross-disciplinary collaboration at BINA, Prof. Deutsch (Physics) and Prof. Yitzhak Mastai (Chemistry) are working together on research dealing with the structure of Langmuir films as a function of surface coverage, using surface tensiometry and surface-specific synchrotron X-ray diffraction and reflectivity. Another researcher in this Center, Dr. Joseph Frey, has introduced an innovative approach resulting in functional organic/inorganic nano-composites, such as titania/conjugated polymer/carbon nanotubes. These new nano materials are expected to enhance charge separation and thus improve the efficiency of the photovoltaic cells.

“Polymers & Biopolymers”

There is a growing interest in developing nanoparticles for imaging, targeting, labeling and sensing of biological systems. Prof. Shlomo Margel and his research team present superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles which are synthesized in their lab. Iron oxide nanoparticles are considered to be non-toxic and biodegradable; they have a wide range of biomedical applications such as MRI contrast agents, drug delivery, specific cell labeling, and hyperthermia (also called thermal therapy as cancer treatment). Prof. Margel’s team has improved these bioactive iron oxide nanoparticles (and other particles), with fluorescent dyes for diagnosis of colon cancer.

Nanotechnology and Organic Chemistry – “Fabricating Nanoparticles”

Prof. Jean-Paul Lellouche has developed improved water filtration membranes based on surface modifications using a wide range of multipurpose nano-materials. Their purpose is for the delivery of new anti-bacterial polymeric membranes with improved filtration capabilities. Several modified iron-oxide and silica-based nanoparticles have been fabricated and checked regarding size, size distribution, and surface charge for colloidal stabilities using a unique Nanosight measurement platform.

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Booth 2

The Nano-Magnetism Center

The field of nano-magnetism focuses on studying the behavior and effects of magnetic properties in sub-micron sized materials. Based on that knowledge and understanding, nano-scale magnetic devices can be developed to further complement today’s technologies. BINA’s Nano-Magnetism Center has shown great promise within our focused subject areas that include Spintronics, the Hall Effect, development of non-volatile elements, and magneto-transport properties.

Prof. Lior Klein, Director of the Nano-Magnetism Center, is one of the founders of the field of spintronics. The planar Hall effect is the appearance of transverse voltage in a magnetic current path whose magnitude and polarity depends on the magnetic orientation. Prof. Klein’s group explores ways of using this effect for developing novel magnetic memory devices and magnetic sensors. Also within this Center, Prof. Aviad Frydman’s work focuses on the magneto-transport properties of various low dimensional magnetic systems, such as ultrathin films, nano-magnetic grain systems, 1-D magnetic wires, ferromagnetic mesoscopic systems and transport through a single nanoparticle. This work is leading toward the development of high-density memory media and magnetic sensors. Using nano-scale thin superconducting films for studying magnetic flux dynamics, Prof. Yosef Yeshurun’s original work in the field of superconductivity is a vital link in this exciting area.

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Nano-Devices & Materials – “Spinning Nanos – to Connect Superconducters and Magnets”

Dr. Amos Sharoni describes superconductivity as an amazing phenomenon, where the nano-scale properties of the material have profound macroscopic effects. One such example is the Meissner effect, in which a superconductor will turn into an excellent magnet in the presence of another magnet, but with the opposite polarity. Thus the magnets repel and flotation occurs. But why does this magnet not “fall off”? This is due to the spinning of superconducting nano-size vortices- they act as chains, connecting between the superconductor and the magnet, not allowing them to fall apart! Nano-Fabrication Facility Focused Ion Beam (FIB) – “From a Unique Nano-Machine Shop to an Innovative Imaging Tool”

Dr. Yafit Fleger is Head of the Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Unit - a “workshop” for the nano scale resolution. Using the FIB she can cut, deposit different materials, and even write different pictures in nano-scale resolution, as will be shown in the presentation of various samples, structures and pictures.

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Booth 3

The Nano-Cleantech Center

Growing concern for the impact that we have on our planet has made the field of environmentally clean technology especially relevant and interesting. Research at the BINA Nano-Cleantech Center focuses on two crucial areas: Firstly, water treatment through desalination processes using nano-scale membranes and absorption processes, and secondly, anti biofouling. Pioneering work that focuses on the development mechanisms of bacterial layers on surfaces, is leading to innovations in avoiding bacterial growth. Prof. Doron Aurbach, Director of the Nano-Cleantech Center, leads a group that is doing research in electrochemistry and is presently working on new approaches for water deionization based on micro-size porous membranes.

Coated Fabrics with Anti-bacterial Nano-Particles –“Future Hospital Textiles”

Prof. Aharon Gedanken’s group is involved in an innovative study aimed at understanding the influence of Zinc Oxide (ZnO, from micro scale down to the nano scale) on the antibacterial effect. They found that an exposure of bacteria to the small nanoparticles of ZnO resulted in increased cellular internalization of the nanoparticles and bacterial cell damage. It appears that the unique properties of nano-sized ZnO impose several effects that govern its antibacterial action.

Biofilm Research Laboratory – “Using Nano to Reduce Bacteria”

The ability of bacteria to colonize surfaces and form biofilms is a major cause of medical infections world-wide. In Dr. Ehud Banin’s laboratory his team is utilizing nanotechnology to develop sterile surfaces. One approach utilizes low energy ultrasound to generate surface acoustic waves (SAW). They showed that these waves can reduce biofilm formation by 95% and increase antibiotic susceptibility by two orders of magnitude. The second approach utilizes novel metal fluoride nanoparticles as antibiofilm agents. In collaboration with Prof. Aharon Gedanken, Dr. Banin’s team demonstrates that by using microwave chemistry they can synthesize and coat various surfaces with these particles. The coated surfaces can kill bacteria and block biofilm formation of common pathogens.

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Booth 4

The Aharon & Rachel Dahan Nano-Energy Center

The world’s finite supply of fossil fuels — and the volatility of their markets — dictates an urgent necessity to find new and sustainable sources of energy. With ever-increasing demands and the need to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions, scientists worldwide are united in the quest for renewable, carbon-free, clean energy sources. Leveraging the interdisciplinary approach of nanoscience, Bar-Ilan researchers are playing a vital role in developing renewable energy applications.

Prof. Arie Zaban, Director of BINA and the Dahan Nano-Energy Center, specializes in the field of dye-sensitive solar cells that are expected to be more cost-effective than current silicon-based solar cells. Zaban’s group is applying new research in nano-materials to develop energy-related components, such as innovative air electrodes for fuel cells based on a nano-structure catalyst. A new recruit to the Dahan Nano-Energy Center is Dr. David Zitoun. His recent work has focused on novel chemical strategies towards functional materials in the field of electronics, energy conversion and storage.

Sustainable Energy - Materials & Devices – “Solar Cells –How do they Work?”

Prof. Arie Zaban’s group is focused on research and development of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) for efficient low cost conversion of sun light to electricity. They will demonstrate some of the experimental tools and methods used in their lab, such as electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of titania and synthesis of semiconductor quantum dots. Also, a full working solar cell will be demonstrated along with an electrical characterization of the device.

Energy Storage and Electrochemical Water Deionization

In the field of electrochemistry, Prof. Doron Aurbach is developing a variety of rechargeable batteries, mainly Li-Ion batteries for many applications. These batteries may be used for electric vehicles due to their ability to supply up to 5V. Research based on the “double layer effect” yields several applications developed by this group such as super-capacitors based on micro-porous carbon as well as processes for deionization of solutions in desalination of salty water.

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Booth 5

The Nano-Medicine Center

One of the most exciting areas of nanotechnology is nano-medicine, which promises to improve the lives and health of millions. The BINA Nano-Medicine Center is currently focused on one of modern medicine’s greatest challenges: developing new and innovative approaches to treating cancer by combating the disease at the core of its deadly mechanisms. Innovative diagnostic tools for site-specific imaging processes to assist this effort are also under study.

At BINA’s Nano-Medicine Center, a wide range of interdisciplinary scientists collaborate closely to advance this critical work. Prof. Uri Nir, Director of the Nano-Medicine Center, has revealed a “smoking gun” – an enzyme that in several tissue types plays a pivitol role in the onset of cancer and has shown the ability to directly strike down or halt the mechanism common to the disease process in prostate, breast and colon cancers.

Virus-Host Interaction – “Showing How Viruses Highjack Host Cells”

Since the sequencing of the human genome, proteomics has become a major research topic in life sciences. Progress in the area of proteomics relies heavily on technology. Dr. Doron Gerber and his research team have engineered integrated microfluidic devices that can measure molecular interactions with high sensitivity in a quantitative and high-throughput manner. Such devices are expected to play an important role in the study of the structure and function of proteins and may provide new insight into how viruses hijack the machinery of the host cells.

Nano Neuro-Engineering – “Aiming a Nano-Gene Gun to EngineerNeuron Growth”

How neurons acquire their morphology is a question of great importance for understanding neuronal development and for promoting neuronal regeneration. Dr. Orit Shefi is looking for physical as well as molecular mechanisms that govern the development of the nervous system of a simple model system, the medicinal leech. She uses nano-based technologies such as the pneumatic capillary gene gun, to engineer the neuronal growth in the intact animals and in culture. The novel biolistic technology enables an accurate delivery of reagents, for gene silencing and gene expression at selected sets of cells.

Gene Expression in Living Cells – “Peering into Cells in Real Time”

Gene expression - this is a general term that encompasses the fundamental processes occurring within every living cell at almost any given time – namely, how a gene “turns on” and subsequently leads to a biological function. Dr. Yaron Shav-Tal’s specialty is the

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utilization of kinetic experimental techniques to study the gene expression pathway, which means that he performs high-resolution fluorescent microscopy imaging on living cells. This approach enables him to peer into cells, thereby following biological processes as they occur in real-time within the natural landscape of a cell (in vivo).

RNA Center and Molecular Parasitology – “Nuclear Targeting by Nanoparticles”

Prof. Shulamit Michaeli and her group are developing a generic model for nuclear targeting by nanoparticles that will be used for the silencing of various human and trypanosome genes. In collaboration with chemist Prof. Jean-Paul Lellouche, fluorescent and magnetic nanoparticles have been specifically engineered as vehicles for the delivery of siRNAs to cells. Intra-cellular tracking of fluorescent particles en-route to the nucleus are seen using fluorescence techniques and silencing is monitored in real-time using live-cell imaging. The use of magnetic nanoparticles allows easy magnetic separation of cells harboring the nanoparticles as well as their use as MRI contrast agents.

Booth 6

The Nano-Photonics Center

Nano-Photonics is an exciting field, with two main areas of interest: imaging & vision, and information transport. These disciplines have far-reaching influences in both private and public sectors, with potential applications ranging from faster computing power and “smart” eyeglasses, to national safety and security. BINA’s Nano-Photonics Center currently focuses on a variety of topics, including super resolution imaging, fiber devices, silicon photonics, optical-data processing, and RF photonics. The center is also involved in research on laser spectroscopy, light scattering, and basic short-pulse laser phenomena. Of particular interest, several of our researchers are developing an innovative imaging system for tracking biological systems.

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky, Director of the Nano-Photonics Center and an associate Professor at the School of Engineering, specializes in super resolution, nano-photonics, in-fiber devices, fiber optics, optical data processing, diffractive optical elements and beam shaping, 3D estimation and RF-photonics. Among the researchers in this Center is Prof. Michael Rosenbluh, whose main research area is in laser spectroscopy. He also researches propogation of short pulses in in homogenously broadened media, bulk and surface light scattering, linear and non-linear optical properties, and heat and mass transfer during interaction of short laser pulses with optical nano-composite materials.

Electro-optics & Photonics – “Hearing People Speak through Light and Laser Systems”

Prof. Zeev Zalevsky’s display presents two photonic systems. The first is a system based upon an optical fiber which allows hearing people speak while they are standing in proximity to the fiber. In the second system he and his team will demonstrate a novel photonic configuration allowing them to obtain information about the circulatory-system in a person’s body without having any physical contact with the person. Both systems are based on a laser and light detection system.

Confocal Microscopy of Phase Transitions – “Understanding Crystallization through Confocal Microscopy”

Phase transitions, such as crystallization and melting of crystals, are ubiquitous in nature. Yet, the fundamental understanding of these processes is still lacking, in spite of the very intensive research,already taking place for several decades. Confocal microscopy is a new experimental technique; it allows following up to 50,000 individual micron-sized particles in real time, in three dimensions, during crystallization or melting. Dr. Eli Sloutskin employs this technique to establish fundamental understanding of crystallization; we base this deeper understanding of crystallization on the unprecedentedly-detailed experimental information, which is available in our system.

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Quantum Optics – “Getting the Atomic Clock to Tick”

Dr. Avi Pe’er demonstrates an experimental system for precise stabilization of a laser’s frequency. In the experiment, the frequency error of the laser is measured in real time (compared to a highly stable reference cavity) and corrected through fast feedback to achieve active locking of the laser to the reference. The demonstrated system is frequently used in precision measurement of optical frequencies and in next generation atomic clocks. In his lab this system will serve as a stabilizer for his novel optical frequency comb sources.

Physical biology-Nano-Bio Photonics Laboratory – “Explaining Imaging Optics and Demonstrating the Spirit of our Lab”

Dr. Yuval Garini is presenting the biophysics lab and its spirit (as he puts it: it’s always about the people!). He explains the unique research in his lab that combines physics, biological systems and nanoparticles. Some of the lab’s optical imaging systems will be demonstrated and he will describe the experimental principle and discuss its potential applications.

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