The Research
CAMP
is an interdisciplinary science and engineering endeavor dedicated
to research on high-technology materials processing. This research is
focused on the production, modification and conversion of matter for which
"small" particles, colloidal media and / or surfaces play an important
role in the process and /or properties of the final product. Presented
here are some highlights of the research during CAMP's seventeenth year
as a New York State Center for Advanced Technology.
PARTICLE SYNTHESIS AND PROPERTIES
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CAMP Professor Dan Goia is involved in the synthesis, characterization, and modification of ultra-fine and nanosize metallic and metal-composite particles with controlled size, shape, internal structure, composition, and surface properties. Besides being already used extensively in catalysis, electronics, metallurgy, and pigments, these materials could have a significant impact in many emerging technological fields such as medicine, biology, defense, nonlinear optics, energy generation, and magnetic storage. Professor Goia also has several active government and industrial grants to conduct research in the areas of metal and metal-composite particles for defense applications, heterogeneous metallic catalysts for PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) and solid oxide fuel cells, precious and base metal powders for electronic components, metallic flakes for electromagnetic interference shielding, nanosize metallic particles for medical and antimicrobial applications, and metal composite powders for metallurgical applications.
Figure 1: Highly dispersed nanosize (~70 nm) silver particles. A novel precipitation process capable of producing reproducibly and cost-effectively, highly- dispersed and uniform silver nanoparticles (10 -100 nm) was recently developed in Professor Dan Goia's research laboratory. These materials have already been tested successfully in electronic, medical, decorative, and biological applications. The technology was licensed by NanoDynamics Inc. (Buffalo/NY) and the scale up effort is presently underway. As a result of the research conducted under these grants, Professor Goia has already developed several novel technologies to manufacture fine, ultra-fine, and nanosize dispersed metallic particles and flakes for electronic, catalytic, metallurgical, and biological applications. (See Figure 1.)
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The intellectual property rights for four of these technologies were already acquired by two of CAMP's industrial partners who have scaled up the respective processes and have introduced several new products into these markets. CAMP Professors Fendler and Roy Study Nanostructured Layered Materials for Potential Use in Biological and Chemical Sensors In a collaborative project, CAMP Professors Janos Fendler (CAMP Distinguished Professor of the Chemistry Department) and Dipankar Roy are studying multilayered thin films that are composed of highly ordered nanomaterials. These films are fabricated by using the technique of self-assembly. Molecular self-assembly is now widely recognized as a cost-effective approach to nanofabrication of biomaterials. It often involves relatively simple and well-developed chemical techniques, and at the same time, can provide highly ordered molecular nanostructures that are precisely tailored with desired chemical properties and complex functionalities. Research in this area by the CAMP groups is continuing, and it is expected that the new results will considerably ease the difficult task of designing nanoparticle-based high performance SPR biosensors. Currently Professors Fendler and Roy are attempting to combine FFT-EIS with the SPR technique. Their goal is to eventually achieve new types of opto-electrochemical biosensors that would have much broader capabilities than the currently available sensors based on single detection methods. Complete
lists of recently published research reports from Professors Fendler's
and Roy's groups can be found at the following websites: |
