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Friday, 27th January 2006 (6306 views)

Gold nanoparticles have created new possibilities for moving cells and biomolecules through microfluidic channels.

A team at the University of California in Berkeley have developed a new technique, which uses gold crescent shaped nanoparticles as a 'molecular tugboat', nanotechwire.com reports.

The experiment, detailed in the journal Nature Materials, provides an alternative method of moving cells and molecules that excludes the need for valves, pumps or other control elements.

Instead, the research team, headed by Dr Luke Lee, exploited the interaction between gold nanoparticles and light to create a force that compels liquid and nanoparticles along a path set by a moving light beam.

The Gold nano crescents absorb light, causing them to warm up. This in turn vaporises small amounts of liquid surrounding the nanoparticles.

This vapour then condenses extremely swiftly ahead of the liquid, which coalesces with the droplets in a reaction that moves the nanoparticle-packed fluid forward. The process is repeated as the fluid follows the beam of activating light.

The discovery has important scientific implications as the bulk of the fluid remains at an ambient temperature, as the reaction only requires a small light force.

The researchers have successfully demonstrated the technique on both biomolecules and living cells.

Full details of the experiment can be found in the paper Optofluidic Control Using Photothermal Nanoparticles.

 

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