The nanotechnology, what it does is it improves the efficiency of these solar cells by about 10,000 times

from a video from the National Defense Education Program:

10,000 times! He says it improves the efficiency 10,000 times!

"What we have here is a flexible solar cell. And it's a flexible solar cell that's only made possible through nanotechnology. Now you think of traditional solar cells—they're essentially giant pieces of silicon and they're made on glass. Well, this is very different from that. It's not made on glass. It's made on plastic, as you can see.

"Now, what we have here, it is nanostructured titanium dioxide with some organic(s) in there to absorb the light. The nanotechnology, what it does is it improves the efficiency of these solar cells by about 10,000 times. So you'll actually be able to go out and buy these flexible solar cells—maybe put them on your house—use them for other applications—but they'll be much cheaper than the solar panels you can get today."

—Joseph McDermott, Phd, nanomaterials scientist, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Well, plainly I don't know the details here, but the first thing I got on Google that contained "plastic based solar cells titanium dioxide organic" gave me this, which mentioned that efficiencies, as of 2006, were between .01 and .04%. A symposium in 2007 listed some not-quite-similar materials achieving 4-6% efficiency under some conditions. That's a several hundred percent improvement. Maybe the first non-nanostructured cells had unbelievably bad efficiencies, like .00001%. I don't know. It just seems like a 10,000 time increase is hard to imagine...

This is not an April Fools Joke

Physorg.com:

Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have developed nanowires capable of storing computer data for 100,000 years and retrieving that data a thousand times faster than existing portable memory devices such as Flash memory and micro-drives, all using less power and space than current memory technologies.

Garments treated with metallic nanoparticles prevent colds and flu

Also from Physorg.com:

Design student Olivia Ong '07 hugs two garments, treated with metallic nanoparticles through acollaboration with fiber scientists Juan Hinestroza and Hong Dong, that she designed as part of her fashion line, "Glitterati." Credit: Cornell University

Fashion designers and fiber scientists at Cornell have taken "functional clothing" to a whole new level. They have designed a garment that can prevent colds and flu and never needs washing, and another that destroys harmful gases and protects the wearer from smog and air pollution.

The two-toned gold dress and metallic denim jacket, featured at the April 21 Cornell Design League fashion show, contain cotton fabrics coated with nanoparticles that give them functional qualities never before seen in the fashion world.

Designed by Olivia Ong '07 in the College of Human Ecology's Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, the garments were infused with their unusual qualities by fiber science assistant professor Juan Hinestroza and his postdoctoral researcher Hong Dong. Apparel design assistant professor Van Dyke Lewis launched the collaboration by introducing Ong to Hinestroza several months ago.

"We think this is one of the first times that nanotechnology has entered the fashion world," Hinestroza said. He noted one drawback may be the garments' price: one square yard of nano-treated cotton would cost about $10,000.

Ong's dress and jacket, part of her original fashion line called "Glitterati," look innocently hip. But closer inspection -- with a microscope, that is -- shows an army of electrostatically charged nanoparticles creating a protective shield around the cotton fibers in the top part of the dress, and the sleeves, hood and pockets of the jacket.

"It's something really moving toward the future, and really advanced," said Ong, who graduates in December and aspires to design school. "I thought this could potentially be what fashion is moving toward."

Dong explained that the fabrics were created by dipping them in solutions containing nanoparticles synthesized in Hinestroza's lab. The resultant colors are not the product of dyes, but rather, reflections of manipulation of particle size or arrangement.

The upper portion of the dress contains cotton coated with silver nanoparticles. Dong first created positively charged cotton fibers using ammonium- and epoxy-based reactions, inducing positive ionization. The silver particles, about 10-20 nanometers across (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) were synthesized in citric acid, which prevented nanoparticle agglomeration.

Dipping the positively charged cotton into the negatively charged silver nanoparticle solution resulted in the particles clinging to the cotton fibers.

Silver possesses natural antibacterial qualities that are strengthened at the nanoscale, thus giving Ong's dress the ability to deactivate many harmful bacteria and viruses. The silver infusion also reduces the need to wash the garment, since it destroys bacteria, and the small size of the particles prevents soiling and stains.

The denim jacket includes a hood, sleeves and pockets with soft, gray tweed cotton embedded with palladium nanoparticles, about 5-10 nanometers in length. To create the material, Dong placed negatively charged palladium crystals onto positively charged cotton fibers.

Ong, though strictly a designer, was drawn especially to the science behind creating the anti-smog jacket.

"I thought it would be cool if [wearers] could wipe their hands on their sleeves or pockets," Ong said.

Ong incorporated the resultant cotton fiber into a jacket with the ability to oxidize smog. Such properties would be useful for someone with allergies, or for protecting themselves from harmful gases in the contaminated air, such as in a crowded or polluted city.

Source: Cornell Chronicle/Cornell University