Cutting Edge Technology: Gold Nanoparticles for Research
[caption id="attachment_24005" align="alignright" width="480"] Using a nanoparticle-based sensing strategy for determining protein levels in blood. Image by Vincent Rotello, University of Massachusetts[/caption] There is spellbinding beauty in “yellow, yellow” gold. But gold is not always yellow. If individual gold atoms are clumped together in small quantities – agglomerated – they assume various colors depending upon the physical properties of the agglomerates. If all the particles are of about the same size and shape, the color and other physical properties, when duplicated, are exactly reproduced. Interestingly, aggregates can be grown with a specific geometry. They can even be grown into the particularly useful form – nanorods. The assortment of colors that can be produced ranges from red to purple to blue. But there is a problem. If gold nanoparticles grown with…