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Monday, 23rd March 2009 (1290 views)

A new coating that could help reduce corrosion on the hulls of ships has been developed by scientists based at Syracuse University.

According to Nanowerk News, researchers have used gold in the creation of a film that can reduce the build-up of bacteria and the creation of biofilms.

Yan-Yeung Luk and Dacheng Ren, both assistant professors at the university, have succeeded in forming a chemical structure that repels bacteria cells, preventing them from forming biofilms on a surface.

The scientists applied a thin layer of gold to a glass slide in order to create the protective layer, which was then completed with the addition of specially-created molecules that help to repel the unwanted bacteria.

"We hope that what we have learned in the laboratory will … lead to the production of new materials for use in medicine and industry," Mr Ren stated.

Elsewhere in the nanotechnology industry, scientists at Cornell University recently discovered a way of understanding the reactivity of gold nanoparticles.

 

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