Dr. Bret Flanders, Associate Professor of Physics at Kansas State University (KSU) and part of the Kansas and Nebraska Track 2:
Collaborative Research: Imaging and controlling Ultrafast Dynamics of Atoms, Molecules and Nanostructures has been creating gold nanowires for the other physicists and chemists involved with the grant. One of Dr. Flanders’ EPSCoR research contribution is to
create and supply nanowires to be used for experiments in both Kansas and Nebraska that involve electronic transfer. This research was briefly discussed in an earlier Blog Post,
Manhattan High School Student Explores Growing Nanowires. However, a new usage of his gold nanowires has emerged and these nanowires are now being used in a novel device, developed by KSU researchers, that could play an important role "during electrode and organ transplant procedures." The device uses Dr. Flanders' gold nanowires to manipulate and sense characteristics of individual cells.
These gold nanowires are 1,000 times smaller than a human hair with a diameter of less than 100 nanometers (cells in hair are about 10-20 micrometers in diameter, while red blood cells measure about 7 micrometers). The Kansas State University article Growing gold: Researchers develop gold nanowires for biomedical procedures provides a more detailed explanation of the nanowire growth processes as well possible benefits the nanowires can contribute to the biomedical community.
For more information about Dr. Flanders' gold nanowires and their biomedical research impacts, go to the KSU News article:
Growing gold: Researchers develop gold nanowires for biomedical procedures. The growing nanowire research has also been published in the journals
Applied Physics Letters as well as
Nanotechnology, and has been presented at meetings of the Materials Research Society and the American Physical Society.
The patent for the device was issued to the Kansas State University Research Foundation, a nonprofit corporation responsible for managing technology transfer activities at the university.
