Tuesday, 12th September 2006 (4389 views)

Scientists in the US have come up with a way of releasing biomolecules and nanoparticles using a kind of gold launch pad.

The method uses a small burst of electricity to release the tiny particles and could one day be used to release small quantities of drugs from chips implanted in patients' bodies, PhysOrg.com reports.

Peter C Searson, professor of materials science and engineering at Johns Hopkins university, described the technique as akin to cutting the tethers of balloons, which then float away.

"The technique is relatively simple, but nothing like this has been done before," he said. "Scientists have known that molecules could be removed from a surface in this way, but it's never been considered useful. They've been more interested in preventing this happening."

Gold electrodes were employed in the 'launch pad', where a gold-sulphur bond was used to tether the particles to the surface. Then a pulse of electricity broke the bond and released the molecule.

Gold was chosen because it is a good conductor of electricity and it will stay out of chemical reactions since it is inert.

Many scientific and technical applications have been discovered for gold, including potential cancer treatments and the use of gold nanorods in liquid crystal displays.

 

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