Nano design, just like in nature

Researchers at Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) are currently coordinating an EU project. They are using biological principles as the inspiration to develop a new bionic fuel cell. TU Vienna. Every living cell in our body can do it: covered with a thin membrane known as a cell membrane or nanomembrane, the cells can deliberately let specific substances in and out. Although it is thousands of times thinner than a human hair, this nanomembrane has an extremely complex structure and function. Three Nobel prizes have already in recent years been awarded for improving our understanding of these nanomembranes. Biological nanomembrane has hundreds of very tinny channels which convey water, electrical charges and nutrients around and in doing so, create an equilibrium within the cell.