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Monday, 1st December 2008 (1633 views)

Scientists have created a way of making rod-shaped gold nanoparticles 'swim' through liquids, a development that could be used in medical applications.

The National Science Foundation has detailed how Ayusman Sen, head of the Department of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University, has enabled tiny metallic objects to navigate through a solution.

Mr Sen explained: "Practically, if you want to move a nano-object from one point to another, you need a nano-motor and you have to power it."

However, nanoparticles are so small that they cannot carry fuel or be hooked up to a power source, so the researchers used catalysis to drive the movement.

"It's done with catalytic reactions using substances from the surrounding environment," said Mr Sen.

They also used magnetism and light to direct the gold-layered nanorods to specified destinations.

Recently, a technique that enabled scientists to produce four-dimensional 'movies' of changes in particles of gold was developed by the California Institute of Technology.

 

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