Thursday, 20th July 2006 (4391 views)

Gold nanoparticles have been used by scientists in the creation of complex nanowires, which could have medical applications, Medical News Today reports.

The coding power of DNA was used in conjunction with the particles to form zinc oxide nanowires on carbon nanotube tips, which could be used in medical diagnostics, computer circuits or security sensors.

A team of researchers led by Brown University scientists arranged carbon nanotube arrays on a film base and placed DNA snippets on top.

A second sequence of DNA was then coupled with a gold nanoparticle that acted as a kind of chemical delivery system to bring the two strands together.

Wires were formed by putting the arrays in a 600C furnace and adding zinc arsenide. This resulted in zinc oxide wires measuring between 100 and 200 nanometers.

The tiny wires can create light and generate electricity, making them very versatile.

"Strands of DNA only join together with their complements," said Adam Lazareck, of Brown's Division of Engineering. "So with this biological specificity, you get manufacturing precision. The functional materials that result have attractive properties that can be applied in many ways."

 

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