New nanomaterials open the door for innovations

An ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award recipient at The Australian National University, Dr Mohsen Rahmani, has developed new nanomaterials that have remarkable properties.

The new material could also be tailored for other light spectrums including visible light, opening up a whole array of innovations, including architectural and energy-saving applications—for instance, a window that can turn into a mirror in a bathroom, or control the amount of light passing through your house windows in different seasons.

The sensors—50 times thinner than a human hair—combine with very small gold nanostructures with semiconductors to create unique properties that enable the detection of gas molecules at very low concentrations. In this way, the sensors can measure very small amounts of gases coming through skin and breath.

The research opens the door to the development of wearable devices that allows doctors to medically diagnose people’s health in real time, one day eliminating the need for blood tests and many other invasive procedures. Their size and versatility means they also have the potential to be integrated into different technologies for a multitude of other applications, from farming right through to space exploration.

Dr Rahmani has designed a nanomaterial that can reflect or transmit light on demand with temperature control, opening the door to technology that protects astronauts or satellites in space from harmful radiation. The material is so thin that hundreds of layers could fit on the tip of a needle and could be applied to any surface. Dr Rahmani also collaborated with Associate Professor Antonio Tricoli, also at The Australian National University, to develop ultra-small, ultra-light wearable sensors that can detect diseases such as diabetes.

 

Image: Dr Moshen Rahmani, Associate Professor Antonio Tricoli and Zelio Fusco (pictured left to right).
Image credit: Lannon Harley, The Australian National University.