Thursday, 11th January 2007 (3940 views)

Gold has fascinated man for thousands of years as the soft yellow metal has proved its worth not only in trade, art and jewellery, but also in the fields of science, medicine and health.

And while ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians, Chinese or Indians used to use the metal to treat certain infectious diseases and skin ulcers, now researchers at the Institute of Nanosciences in Paris, located at CNRS University, are continuing to experiment with gold in the form of nanoparticles.

Although gold in its usual form does not oxidise, making it ideal for jewellery and art as it does not tarnish, the opposite is true on a nanometric scale when gold particles become extremely reactive.

Previous studies by scientists in Japan found that these nanoparticles effectively oxidise carbon monoxide from CO2 emissions, meaning the motor industry in particular is considering creating catalytic mufflers which contain gold nanoparticles to cut down on carbon monoxide emissions.

But in medicine, recent studies have been furthering the use of gold nanoparticles in various areas, especially utilising the particles' ability to heat up under laser radiation.

This means they can be used to treat or highlight certain cancers or as an alternative or complement to radiotherapy.

Researchers at the French university are keen to develop more uses for the metal on a nanometric scale, both in industry and in medicine, as there is a great deal of global interest and the prospect of high levels of funding is fuelling research on.

"We are involved in a very promising discipline," researcher Catherine Louis told French newspaper Le Monde. "One can expect many consequences as companies are highly interested in it."

 

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