Thursday, 16th March 2006 (4537 views)

Newly developed gold nanorice could improve chemical sensing and biological imaging, according to the researchers responsible for its creation.

Scientists at Rice University in Houston have invented rice-shaped particles, which are created by combining hematite with gold particles.

The researchers argue that the new shape combines the virtues of nanospheres and nanorods, which are considered to be the two most optically useful shapes in nanotechnology.

"It's just a coincidence that that shape turned out to look exactly like a grain of rice," said Naomi Halas, director of the nanophotonics lab at the identically named university.

The nanorice can be used to focus light on small spaces and the researchers now plan to attach grains to scanning probe microscopes.

It is hoped that moving the grains next to the unmapped features and proteins of cells will yield a clearer picture than current technology allows.

The nanorice measures just 360 nanometres long and is made by attaching small gold particles to a core of spindle-shaped hematite.

The research will be printed in the April 12th issue of Nano Letters.

 

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