Friday, 31st March 2006 (4367 views)

Scientific research has revealed that gold nanoparticles can act as precision heaters that have the potential to be used in biomedical applications.

Professor of chemistry Hugh Richardson has been leading the team at Ohio University who have discovered that with the correct frequency of laser light a small collection of the metal nanoparticles can heat an area 1,000 times its size.

The research published in "Nano Letters", an online scientific journal, showed that when low-intensity lasers were directed at ice it did not melt unless embedded with a gold particle measuring 50 nanometres.

"What's amazing is that we're taking particles that you can't even image with a light microscope, and all of a sudden they cause a huge change in a macroscopic system," Professor Richardson told Newswise.

According to sources, the next step for the experiment is to use the information in collaboration with other researchers to design more efficient nanoscale heaters or actuators that can function in more complex systems, such as the living cells of organisms.

Working alongside Professor Richardson is Alexander Govorov, an associate professor of theoretical physics, and a team of four other assistants, all from Ohio University.

 

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