Gold Nanowire | Image Resource : nanopartz.com The daily life is filled with the use of enormous macromolecules, and by macromolecules it is meant those huge things that are visible to naked eyes and that we can touch easily. But have you thought what lies behind those macromolecules are some very small molecules that range at micro or nano levels.
Nano is a prefix that is used before any physical quantity when they range around 10-9. The science and technology is developing so rapidly that now-a-days nothing is possible if the nano level knowledge is not available to us. Be it from electronic devices to medical facilities, from a pregnancy test kit to any biosensors or detectors used at industrial levels, all of these include nanowires, or nanotubes or nanoparticles that give the results. These nano level particles are very helpful for each and every discovery in the field of science. Nanowires are basically wires, those long tubes whose diameter is in the range of 10-9m and the ratio of the diameter to the length of the tube is greater than 1000. Why only Gold Nanowire? These are some features that make it a perfect choice for making nanowires:- Gold is a noble metal; It does not react with any other particles if kept in pure form in nature; It shows high ductility; Good conductor; More transparent; and Non-corrosive and resistant to oxidation. Gold nanowire production is achieved easily as gold is highly ductile and can be stretched up to kilometres just by a gram of gold. Some applications of nanowires of gold Nanowires made up of gold are finding use in the scientific field and is currently used as an alternative to the previously used carbon nanotubes and nanodots in electronic devices. The gold nanowire is finding great application in touch screen devices and transparent electrodes and various other electronic instruments that require transparency as well as conductive properties of a metal. For biosensors and electronic gadgets, these nanowires are a promising discovery that leads to further developments in these sectors. The decrease in size of the gold wires to gold nanowire results in increasing the efficiency of them because the decrease in size results in the increase in surface area and thus, more the surface area more is the conducting surface that is available for various electrical applications. Gold nanowires are also a great alternative to the semiconductors in p-n junction electrodes and other devices. It is also used in catalytic processes in the biomedical applications. Gold nanowires can be dispersed so that they provide a good platform to support a coating of other metals like platinum and palladium which can diversify the use of gold nanowires to more biomedical applications as a catalyst. Solar cells are also made using these gold nanowires just by a coating of some material that enhances the conductivity of these nanowires. These particles also help in developing low cost solar panels that are more flexible than the traditional ones. Are these nanowires made by stretching gold? Or are there other processes to synthesize them? There are two basic approaches that are followed for the production of these nanowires:- 1. Top-bottom approach- it is the reduction of a larger particles into smaller ones by various chemical and physicals methods such as lithography or electrophoresis. 2. Bottom-top approach- it the process of combining constituent atoms called as adatoms to combine together and initiates the synthesis of these nanowires of desired width and length. The most favoured approach is a bottom-top approach which includes various laboratory techniques like suspension, electrochemical deposition, vapour deposition, VLS growth, and Ion Track technology. Scientists have even developed an artificial heart that is supported and working efficiently by the help of these gold nanowires. Researchers are developing various chemical and biological methods to produce nanowires to reduce the cost of production and to prevent any damage to the environment. The researchers and scientists are discovering new techniques now and then to improvise further the produced gold nanowires, so that their applications in electrical, optical and biomedical fields are aided, and the commercialization of these nanowires is also done by entrepreneurs and businessmen.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2018
Categories |