Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Gilded Bacteria

Abstract:
Humidity sensor: hybrid nanoelectronics made from living bacteria and gold nanoparticles

Gilded Bacteria

October 07, 2005

Living organisms as an integral part of electronic components? What may look like science fiction at first glance is actually a serious approach to the nanoelectronics of tomorrow. Living organisms could provide the required nanostructures. Researchers at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln, USA) have now shown that bacteria coated with gold nanoparticles can function as a humidity sensor.

The properties of metallic nanoparticles differ radically from those of larger particles and are of great interest for nanoelectronics. In order to use nanoparticles, they must be placed on a suitable support, a “nanoscaffold.” “Biological structures have proven to be promising supports,” explains Ravi Saraf, “especially when their responses to stimuli can be integrated.”

Saraf and his co-worker, Vikas Berry, produced a chip covered with extremely fine gold electrodes and applied a suspension of Bacillus cereus. On such surfaces, these long bacteria basically lie down to form bridges between the pairs of electrodes. Then the nanoparticles come in: the researchers dipped their chip into a solution of gold nanoparticles coated with polylysine, a synthetic protein. The tiny gold particles are strongly attracted to the bacterial surface, which contains long, brushlike, highly mobile chain molecules that are negatively charged. Like tentacles, these surround the gold particles - positively charged by the polylysine - and hold them tight. At the end of this process, the bacteria are coated with a thin layer of gold nanoparticles - and are still alive.

The researchers apply a voltage of 10 V across the electrode pairs and measure the current across the bacterial bridges to complete the bioelectronic humidity sensor. If the humidity is increased from about 0 to 20%, the current decerases by a factor of 40. Why does this chip react so sensitively to changes in humidity? Moisture causes the bacterial membrane to swell, which increases the distance between the individual gold particles attached to it by about 0.2 nm. This is not much, but it is enough to hinder electron transport between the particles. Unlike a “normal” macroscopic gold layer, in which the electrons can “flow” unhindered, here they must “jump” from one particle to the next.

“Our humidity sensor demonstrates the vast potential that lies in hybrid structures containing microorganisms and nanoparticles,” says Saraf.

####


Author: Ravi F. Saraf, University of Nebraska, Lincoln (USA), link

Title: Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles on Live Bacterium: An Avenue to Fabricate Electronic Devices

Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2005, 44, 6668, doi: 10.1002/anie.200501711

Contact:
Editorial office: angewandte@wiley-vch.de

David Greenberg (US)
dgreenbe@wiley.com

Julia Lampam (UK)
jlampam@wiley.co.uk

Copyright © Angewandte Chemie

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

Possible Futures

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Sensors

$900,000 awarded to optimize graphene energy harvesting devices: The WoodNext Foundation's commitment to U of A physicist Paul Thibado will be used to develop sensor systems compatible with six different power sources January 12th, 2024

A color-based sensor to emulate skin's sensitivity: In a step toward more autonomous soft robots and wearable technologies, EPFL researchers have created a device that uses color to simultaneously sense multiple mechanical and temperature stimuli December 8th, 2023

New tools will help study quantum chemistry aboard the International Space Station: Rochester Professor Nicholas Bigelow helped develop experiments conducted at NASA’s Cold Atom Lab to probe the fundamental nature of the world around us November 17th, 2023

TU Delft researchers discover new ultra strong material for microchip sensors: A material that doesn't just rival the strength of diamonds and graphene, but boasts a yield strength 10 times greater than Kevlar, renowned for its use in bulletproof vests November 3rd, 2023

Nanoelectronics

Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023

Key element for a scalable quantum computer: Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University demonstrate electron transport on a quantum chip September 23rd, 2022

Reduced power consumption in semiconductor devices September 23rd, 2022

Atomic level deposition to extend Moore’s law and beyond July 15th, 2022

Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024

Catalytic combo converts CO2 to solid carbon nanofibers: Tandem electrocatalytic-thermocatalytic conversion could help offset emissions of potent greenhouse gas by locking carbon away in a useful material January 12th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project