Archive for July, 2009
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July 31st, 2009
Banana flavoured… Gold?!
A recent publication in Nature Chemistry led to an interesting article in the Chemistry in Industry magazine discussing the development of metals endowed with the properties of organic molecules, such as banana-flavoured gold!
The publication detailed the synthesis of palladium imprinted with the molecular structure of a chiral alkaloid. As well as potentially having useful catalytic properties, such metallo-organic materials could have wide ranging uses in a number of fields. Examples detailed in the article include loading invasive medical devices with relevant therapeutics to prevent infection or rejection, and potential in the flavours and sensors industry.
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July 30th, 2009
Close of GOLD2009
Yesterday bought us to the end of GOLD2009 in Heidelberg. We had another excellent morning session of symposia, with plenary papers from Paul Mulvaney from the University of Melbourne and Graham Hutchings of Cardiff University.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few days, and have been impressed by the sheer range and depth of science on offer. Here at the World Gold Council we would really appreciate your feedback on proceedings – please feel free to comment on any of these blog entires or contact either myself or Richard directly.
Finally, we congratulate the various prize winners and sincerely thank the team in Heidelberg for helping make the event run so smoothly.
Roll on 2012…!
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July 29th, 2009
Gold science stories on the web today
Some highlighted developments from around the globe: Method to Weigh Single Atoms One Step Closer Progresses are being …
Softpedia
In their studies of gold nanoparticles of highly uniform shapes and sizes, the investigators have looked at how the atoms lose their energy, …Twinkling nanostars: a golden opportunity?
Optics.org
… the light scatter from rotating gold nanoparticles to suppress the background noise that characterizes optical interrogations of biological tissue. …All-In-One Nanoparticle: A Swiss Army Knife for Nanomedicine
Newswise (press release) – USA
Glowing gold nanoparticles have been used since ancient times in stained glass; more recently they are being developed for delivering drugs, for treating … -
July 28th, 2009
What’s catching the eye at GOLD2009?
This is an open post for attendees at GOLD 2009 to highlight the most interesting talks and discussions from Heidelberg today (Tuesday)……Click on comments below to add your own thoughts.
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July 28th, 2009
Biosensing and Biomedicine at GOLD2009
Yesterday was my second day in the job with the World Gold Council, so being able to start at such a fantastic meeting here in Heidelberg has been a great introduction for me into the science of gold.
Coming from a pharmaceutical background my attention was immediately drawn to some of the innovations in the field of biosensing and biomedicine. Vincent Rotello from the University of Massachusetts presented an excellent paper on the use of gold nanoparticles in diagnostics and therapeutics, a field I believe is going to become increasingly important in the coming years as a consequence of many pharmaceutical organisations gradual shift in focus from small molecule drug development to the field of biopharmaceutics. Qun Huo, from the University of Central Florida, then presented her fascinating work on the development of a sensitive, yet simple and cost effective, immunoassay technique combining gold nanoparticulates with the robust analytical technique of Dynamic Light Scattering. Christophe Alric from the University of Lyon wrapped up the session with an excellent review of his groups work in the use of gold nanoparticles specifically designed for in vivo SRCT and MRI imaging and X-ray therapy.
A truly excellent session of innovative science which has whetted my appetite for the rest of the meeting.
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July 27th, 2009
What’s catching the eye at GOLD2009?
This is an open post for attendees at GOLD 2009 to highlight the most interesting talks and discussions from Heidelberg today (Monday)……Click on comments below to add your own thoughts.
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July 27th, 2009
David Thompson Memorial Lecture
Today at GOLD 2009, the inaugural David Thompson Memorial Lecture was delivered. To mark the sad passing of David Thompson earlier this summer, Jeroen van Bokhoven presented his work ‘Catalytically Active Species in Gold Catalysts’ …it was a fitting talk in honour of a man who was at the forefront of the discussions about the unique activity of gold catalysts.
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July 27th, 2009
Start of Gold 2009
So, after many months of planning and organising, we’ve finally just had the opening of GOLD 2009. The event was officially opened by World Gold Council CEO, Aram Shishmanian and following welcomes from the Organising Committee and the local organisers at the University of Heidelberg, it was straight into three first class general interest talks.
The aim of this first session was to get the attendees, all interested in gold science and the use of this science in practical new uses, to consider the wider gold industry. So, Peter Kondos, from the world’s largest gold producer Barrick Gold provided ‘An Overview of Modern Mining’. Christian Hagelüken, from Umicore then spoke of the growing industry based on ’Recycling of gold from electronics’ before the session ended with Christiane Eluère, from Musee De France, describing ”The earliest story of gold and goldwork in continental Europe’. It was a diverse and fascinating session and following a fine welcoming reception with food and drink, I think most attendees are in great shape for today’s main programme. Can’t wait……
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July 24th, 2009
Gold in most-cited and most-accessed Langmuir articles
As chemist’s will know, Langmuir remains one of the premier chemistry journals. Its ISI Impact Factor has increased to 4.097, its highest ever. The journal remains the #2 most-cited in physical chemistry out of 113 journals in the category. The most-cited and most-accessed Langmuir articles in the last 12 months have just been announced and 2 out of 10 were gold-related:Controlled Synthesis of Gold Nanobelts and Nanocombs in Aqueous Mixed Surfactant Solutions
Fluorescence Imaging of the Oxidative Desorption of a BODIPY-Alkyl-Thiol Monolayer Coated Au Bead
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July 23rd, 2009
Premier Chemicals and 3M in tie-up
Premier Chemicals have just announced a commercial tie up with the 3M corporation which will see Premier Chemicals exclusively distribute 3M’s gold catalyst under the brand name NanAucat™. Both companies will be at Gold 2009 in Heidelberg, Germany next week sharing this news with the commercial and academic community.
3M are, of course, an industry leader in many markets, although many people will not be aware that their biggest product range is from the Occupational Health and Environmental Safety Division. This is focused on products to help protect workers from hazardous contaminates and vapours in the workplace. Based in the UK, Premier Chemicals Ltd are less well known but specialise in Gas Purification and Calcium Chloride supply and now as a Gold Catalyst Supplier.
This is further evidence of the growing commercial prospects for gold catalysis…….
Trevor Keel
Richard Holliday
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