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Tuesday, 16th June 2009 (1020 views)

Researchers have reached a nanotechnology milestone that could be significant for the use of gold nanoparticles in the field.

IBM analysts - with help from a team made up of academics from Utrecht University, Netherlands and the University of Regensburg, Germany - have developed a way to measure the charge state of atoms while using a non-contact form of atomic microscopy.

This meant they could distinguish positively-charged gold atoms from negatively-charged ones, an ability that will open up new opportunities in nanoscale work.

The breakthrough could potentially be useful in areas such as molecular electronics, which is used to create high-tech computing devices.

Leo Gross, an IBM researcher, commented: "The charge state and charge distribution are critical in catalysis and photoconversion. Mapping the charge distribution on the atomic scale might deliver insight into fundamental processes in these fields."

Elsewhere, Johns Hopkins University professor Jeff Bulte has won a $230,000 (£141,107) grant to help him work on a potential diabetes therapy technique using gadolium-gold nanoparticles.

 

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