How To Make A Toxin-Free Gold Nanoparticle

photo credit: Georgia TechResearchers from the University of Missouri have made a major contribution to the field of medicine and the use of gold nanoparticles to treat everything from arthritis to cancer and in new modes of medical imaging -- not to mention the dozens of other fields that utilize gold nanoparticles in processes and/or products.

Gold nanoparticles that are used today in medicine and other fields of technology, are broken down from gold compounds, or "gold salts," with synthetic chemicals, some of which are toxic -- bad for you, bad for the environment. A research team from the University of Missouri just made big news by finding a biocompatible and environmentally friendly method of obtaining gold nanoparticles through "green" chemistry.

Led by Dr. Kattesh Katti, the research team was successful at identifying a natural phytochemical that would break down gold compounds into gold nanoparticles. Dr. Katti and his team discovered how to produce and stabilize gold nanoparticles the "green" way... with soybeans! The process involves bathing the gold salts in water and soybeans. The water draws a phytochemical out of the soybean that enables the breakdown of the gold into gold nanoparticles.

Seemingly a simple solution? Well perhaps, but this study, published in this month's issue of Small and funded by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, won Dr. Katti recognition as one of the 25 most influential people in radiology by RT Image , a magazine for radiologists.

It should not be long before we will all know the impact of the greening of the gold.

sources:
MU scientists go green with gold, distribute environmentally friendly nanoparticles
Soybeans as a Phytochemical Reservoir for the Production and Stabilization of Biocompatible Gold Nanoparticles
Wikipedia

Photo credits: Gold Nanoparticles, Georgia Tech; Soybean Plant: Wikipedia