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Tuesday, 14th October 2008 (1969 views)

Gold nanoparticles have featured in research that has led to the development of a device - similar to a fountain pen - that allows scientists to arrange patterns of nanomaterials.

The breakthrough could lead to more sensitive drug screening tests and may benefit disease detection.

It was carried out by a team at Northwestern University in Illinois and will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Scientists named their new tool the nanofountain probe due to its similarity to a traditional fountain pen.

The device allows researchers to 'write' nanomaterials onto a surface using a protein solution instead of ink.

"We are very excited by these results," said team leader Horacio Espinosa, adding: "This technique is very broadly applicable and we are pursuing it on a number of fronts."

Recently, the National Institute of Standards and Technology used a referencing system developed by UK outfit Malvern Instruments to assess its gold nanoparticle materials.

It is hoped that the Zetasizer method will be implemented by all nanoresearchers in order to gain consistency across the field.

 

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