Tuesday, 21st October 2008 (700 views)

Researchers at Cornell University have developed an innovative way to create various shapes with gold nanoparticles.

The team, led by Dan Luo and Wenlong Cheng, assembled the particles into nanoscale discs, squares and triangles to form 'nanowires', which could then be connected to electrodes.

These shapes were produced by suspending gold nanoparticles of around 12 nanometres in diameter in water and entangling them with molecules of DNA.

As the liquid dried, the scientists were able to manipulate the process to create the nanowire patterns.

"You can in principle build almost any types of architectures you want at nanoscale," the team states in the report, which is published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal.

It is hoped that the breakthrough will lead to more cost-effective ways of producing the nanowires, which can be used in several applications.

Recently, a team from the University of Arkansas developed a neural probe using gold nanowires that could have benefits for paralysed people, as well as those with Parkinson's or Tourette's syndrome.

 

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