Andrew Purcell, online producer
Each nano star fruit is approximately 550 nanometres long (Image: Leo Vigderman and Eugene Zubarev, Rice University)
Star-fruit-shaped nanorods, grown in the lab from gold nanowires with pentagonal cross-sections, could dramatically improve chemical sensing techniques.
The research may help to improve sensing of organic molecules, including biomarkers for diseases such as cancer. "There are many cancers where the diagnostics depend on the lowest concentration of the biomarker that can be detected," says Eugene Zubarev of Rice University in Houston, Texas, who led the research.
The nanorods returned signals 25 times stronger than conventional smooth-surfaced nanorods when using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, a popular technique for detecting organic molecules. Raman spectroscopy determines the molecular structure of compounds by measuring the way they scatter monochromatic light, usually from a laser source.
The nano star fruit boost the signal by taking advantage of gold's ability to boost electromagnetic fields locally. "Fields will concentrate at specific defects, like the sharp edges of our nano star fruits, and that could help detect the presence of organic molecules at very low concentration," says Zubarev. "If we can modify the surface roughness such that biological molecules of interest will adsorb selectively on the surface of our rugged nanorods, then we can start looking at very low concentrations of DNA or cancer biomarkers."
Journal reference: Langmuir, DOI: 10.1021/la300218z
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