Scientists from Aalto University introduced a new technology that uses gold nanoparticles to make colors, which could someday herald better display technology.
The technology utilizes gold nanocylinders suspended in a gel that transmit certain colors when lit by polarized light. The colors it emits depend on the orientation of gold nanocylinders controlled by DNA molecules. They described in full the technique of their study in the paper titled "DNA-Engineered Hydrogels with Light-Adaptive Plasmonic Responses," published in Advanced Functional Materials.
How Gold Nanoparticles and DNA Molecules Create Colors
The team of scientists tested different custom DNA molecules with various melting points to identify the best response, Phys.org reported. They found that the current system produces red and green light, while further work generated blue light transmission. By mixing the three colors, this approach could create different colors.
Study lead author Joonas Ryssy, a doctoral candidate in Aalto, explains that DNA is not just an information carrier because it can also be a building block. The DNA molecules used in the study have specific melting points so they can program the material.
The DNA molecules control the orientation of gold nanocylinders, wherein it loses their grip when the gel heats past melting temperature. Likewise, it tightens up when the temperature drops and puts the nanoparticles in their original position.
"The whole concept - the underlying philosophy behind the work - is to use simple methods, simple materials, and simple tools to generate colors in a dynamic and reversible way," said lead researcher Aalto postdoctoral researcher Sesha Manuguri in a statement via EurekAlert!
New Technology Could Offer Better Display
Most living things could sense and respond to environmental stimuli, such as responding to appearances as manifested by dynamic color modulation for camouflage and communication, according to the study. For example, certain animals like cephalopods can change their skin color by regulating their chromatophores while macroscopically deforming their bodies.
These natural systems have inspired the team to make reconfigurable and adaptive materials, like soft actuating systems with camouflage abilities, dynamic color displays, and sensors for physiological and non-physiological conditions, Azo Nano reported.
For the team, part of the elegance of the new technique is that gold nanocylinders can produce colors in both dynamic and reversible ways. According to Manuguri, the gold nanorods get hot when they are lit, heating the gel and changing colors. That is practical since separate heating elements will no longer be necessary.
Researchers noted that further development of the technique could be used to produce color in different kinds of displays that are used today because materials are all biocompatible. That makes it ideal for displays and wearable devices, billboards, and more applications.
Manuguri and his colleagues noted that the findings of the study have brought forth the building blocks together in a symbiotic manner for future researchers and scientists to create something functional. It is now up to the engineers to explore the kind of devices they could make out of this information.
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