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November 30 2010
To Make Gold Nanoparticles, Add a Dash of Cinnamon
“Is it just me, or do these gold nanoparticles taste like apple pie?”
Ok, you probably won’t hear that one around the lab (taste-testing the nano-gold is a strict no-no), but researchers have discovered a way to replace the toxic chemicals typically used to make gold nanoparticles with cinnamon.
Researcher Raghuraman Kannan explains in the press release:
“The procedure we have developed is non-toxic,” Kannan said. “No chemicals are used in the generation of gold nanoparticles, except gold salts. It is a true ‘green’ process.”
The cinnamon takes the place of the toxic agents that remove the gold particles from gold salts, explains Popular Science:
There are several ways to produce gold particles, but most involve dissolving chloroauric acid, also called gold salts, in liquid and adding chemicals to precipitate gold atoms. Common mixtures include sodium citrates, sodium borohydride (also used to bleach wood pulp) and ammonium compounds, all of which can be toxic to humans and the environment.
In Kannan’s new procedure, the gold particles are isolated simply by stirring gold salts, cinnamon, and water together at room temperature. What they get out of that recipe is a combination of gold nanoparticles and phytochemicals from the cinnamon.
Gold nanoparticles have potential in many different fields–from medical treatments to electronics–because they can be absorbed by cells, and because they have unique optical and electronic properties. When the researchers tested the particles created by the new process, they found they were safe and non-toxic. The nanoparticles were also able to deliver the phytochemicals to cancer cells, where they could help destroy or image the cells.
It’s important to consider the health and environmental impacts of new technologies, Kannan said in the press release:
“On one hand, you are trying to create a new, useful technology. However, continuing to ignore the environmental effects is detrimental to the progress,” Kannan said.
With so much hype about nanotechnology and how it will change the world, it’s nice to hear about research that’s trying to keep it from harming the world at the same time–even if it might raise prices at Cinnabon.
Related Content:
Discoblog: Did a Guy Find a Cure for Cancer Using Pie Tins and Hot Dogs?
Discoblog: The Tiny Robot that Can Crawl Through Your Veins—And Treat Your Tumors
Discoblog: Nano Snacks! Researchers Say Edible Nanostructures Taste Like Saltines
80beats: Golden Nanocages Could Deliver Cancer Drugs to Tumors
DISCOVER: World’s Tiniest Scale Can Weigh Individual Molecules
Image: flickr / pamramsey
August 19 2010
Whiskey Biofuel: Scottish Engineers Want to Give Your Car a Stiff Drink
Beef, butter sculptures, and people byproducts have made for some good biofuels. Now Scottish researchers are looking to whiskey. Processing whiskey waste–pot ale, the liquid in copper stills, and draff, leftovers from grain–researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have created butanol which they claim can provide 25 percent more energy per unit volume than ethanol, a more typical biofuel.
Martin Tangney, project director, told The Guardian that every country should use its own particular brand of waste instead of growing crops for biofuels:
“What people need to do is stop thinking ‘either or’; people need to stop thinking like for like substitution for oil. That’s not going to happen. Different things will be needed in different countries.”
In Scotland’s case those things include the leftovers from a stiff drink. The country’s estimated six billion dollar whiskey industry produces 1,600 million liters of pot ale and 187,000 tons of draff annually. In America’s case, perhaps we should instead turn to human fat?
Sugar fermentation makes the conversion from leftovers to butanol possible, and researchers say cars could use the fuel without modifying their engines by using a mixture of butanol and gasoline.
Related content:
Discoblog: Rancid Butter Sculptures: A Great Untapped Biofuel Source?
Discoblog: All Aboard the Beef Train–Amtrak Debuts a Train Running on Beef Biofuel
Discoblog: Dr. 90210 Powers SUV with Liposuctioned Fat
Discoblog: Finally! A Self-Sustaining, Sewage-Processing, Poop-Powered Rocket
Discoblog: This Poop Mobile Could Get All Its Energy From 70 Homes’ Worth of Methane
Image: flickr / foxypar4
April 26 2010
A New Strategy for Cheap Solar Power in Africa: Pokeberries
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