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Monday, 5th September 2005 (8382 views)

A new way has been found to collect groups, or libraries, of gold nanoparticles.

September's issue of 'Inorganic Chemistry' features Jim Hutchinson's latest findings on how to accumulate a mass of gold nanoparticles together.

A chemist at the University or Oregon, Mr Hutchinson explains that: "We've discovered a method for generating a diverse library of functionalized gold particles quickly and easily."

"Basic research of this type is the key to finding out what kinds of new electronic, optical and pharmaceutical products actually will come to market," he goes on to say.

By creating libraries of the particles it is possible to determine their size-dependent properties and therefore their potential uses.

Previously Hutchinson's laboratory created a library of larger particles in which the cores had 100 gold atoms.

The latest library is with cores of 11 gold atoms and is of great interest for the nanotechnology industry.

Gold is currently used in nanotechnology as it is resistant to surface oxidation and on the nanoscale it frequently acts a catalyst.

Gold nanoparticles' optical properties are also varied: depending on their size, the particles' colour ranges from red to purple.

Nanotechnological uses for gold particles include: as colloid for biomedical assays, for use in thermosetting, and as catalysts for pollution control.

 

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