Indiana Section of the Society for Applied SpectroscopyIndiana Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy
2000-2001 Seminar Abstracts
HYBRID ORGANIC-METAL NANOPARTICLE COMPOSITES FOR NANOSCALE ELECTRONICS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Dr. Dan Feldheim
Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University
Raleigh,
North Carolina 27695
http://www.ncsu.edu/chemistry/dlf.html
Two
important technologies to emerge from the next century will be nanoscale
electronics and gene therapy. These seemingly disparate areas of science, one
traditionally rooted in physics, the other in biology, are linked by a need for
multifunctional, nanoscopic composite materials. Gene delivery would benefit
from a single nanoscopic material capable of packaging DNA, selectively entering
specific cells and releasing the DNA into the cell nucleus. Materials for
nanoscale electronics must not only contain the desired electrical
characteristic, but must also be capable of “self-assembling” into more
complex functional integrated circuits.
Our
group has developed methods for synthesizing a variety of polymer- and
alkylthiolate- modified metal nanostructures (e.g., 1 nm - 200 nm gold
particles) and hollow polymer nanocapsules. In this presentation, the electronic
properties of individual metal nanoparticles will be described. Our specific
goals are to establish basic surface chemistry—nanoparticle electronic
property relationships. In addition, entrapment and diffusion of small molecules
inside hollow polymer capsules will be presented within the context of drug,
gene delivery, and enzyme immobilization.
Contact Indiana Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy