Bling comes to the world of nanotechnology, as japanese scientists coat crystals with gold particles. The modification of specific crystal faces of organic single crystals using gold nanoparticles could open up new possibilities for crystal engineering of materials with novel optical, electronic, and catalytic properties, according to the researchers.
Kazuki Sada, Seiji Shinkai, and colleagues of Kyushu University, in Fukuoka, Japan, have demonstrated that gold nanoparticles can be made to adhere to only certain faces of crystals of the amino acid cystine, suggesting that such “building blocks” might be used for creating sophisticated nanostructures with designer facets.
Read about the ultimate nano bling here.