NEW INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS FOR GOLD
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Researchers in the field of gold have not been snoozing, as I had
expected, but are contemplating new applications for this colorful
metal. They have come to the realization that they require some
common structure in which multi disciplined scientists from many
fields, such as chemistry, metallurgy, physics, electrical
engineering and others can all work towards providing new technical
applications for gold in industrial areas. The official spokesman for gold, The World Gold Council, published the following new uses for gold during 2003: "Gold alloy catalysts are used in the commercial production of vinyl acetate monomer (VAM). BP Chemical's VAM plant at Hull in the UK uses the new 'Leap Process' in the production of the monomer, which is essential in the manufacture of emulsion-based paints, wallpaper paste and wood glue. "Gold based material could be used to make better filters, more efficient sensors, and faster catalysts." For the first time, scientists have created a material with a gradient of gold nanoparticles on a silica covered silicon surface using a molecular template. The material, which was developed at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and tested at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, provides the first evidence that nanoparticles - each about one thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair - can form a gradient of decreasing concentration along a surface. Researchers at the National University of Singapore have just patented novel gold complexes for use in pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer. Currently, the most widely used treatments for many types of cancers are platinum based drugs, with the major drawback of serious side effects. Associate Professor Leung Pak Hing and his team have discovered that phosphine supported gold complexes have excellent anti-tumor activity and clinical trials are likely to begin in the near future. " Perhaps, in the future, gold will be a key element of the fuel cell, the one that will make petroleum obsolete, and will make those Oil Rich nations that have been (x*&^##@) us for so long, lonelier than the Maytag Repairman, wondering why no one wants their light crude, sour crude or even their nasty sludge. Here's wishing them success, Mine-Engineer.Com |
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