Nanosensor smells the faintest scent
Nanostructures could detect a few molecules of perfume, says a Japanese researcher working on a cheaper way to make these structures using ultra thin films.
The structures are very small, "one millionth of one millionth of a metre", Kunitake told ABC Science Online.
He said they could be used to make semi-conductors, which in turn, could be used to detect molecular levels of substances, including perfumes and odours.
Australian researcher Dr Terry Turney, from CSIRO NanoScience Network said that the Japanese group's work was novel and would have a "profound impact" on nanotechnology research for years to come.
"There's a lot of activity revolving around developing very sensitive equipment, almost single molecule detectors," Turney told ABC Science Online.
"[The structures] could also be used in intelligent materials where a room could actually sense the odours in the room and actually adjust the air-conditioning or destroy the odour somehow."
But Turney said that production of the nanostructures that Kunitake described was still several years off.
The researchers made nanometer-thick films of metal oxides using two methods: the sol gel process and spin coating.
The sol-gel process, which Turney said had been around for centuries, is a way of making ceramic materials with very smooth surfaces.
Spin coating applied fluid to that surface and then evaporated the fluid to leave a smooth deposit.
The researchers could then create very flexible shapes with remarkably thin walls by incorporating latex and gold nano-particles into the nanostructures.
"The wall thickness in these 3D structures can be made to be less than 10 nanometres," Kunitake said.
Dr Carl Masens of the Institute for Nanoscale Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney said it was interesting that the researchers could prepare coating to nanometre thickness using the sol-gel process. He said this process might allow the researchers to make nanometer-thick coatings at a larger scale.
Although the research was currently at a very basic level, Kunitake said that his team's technology should offer a cheaper alternative to making ceramic nano-films.
"We are making these things at room temperatures. This should make them much cheaper," he said.