Gold Nanostars Outshine the Competition
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 15:35
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- Novel nanoparticles being tested at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have researchers seeing stars. In a recent paper,* NIST scientists used surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to demonstrate that gold nanostars exhibit optical qualities that make them superior for chemical and biological sensing and imaging. These uniquely shaped nanoparticles may one day be used in a range of applications from disease diagnostics to contraband identification.