Gold used in new solar energy research

Gold nanoparticles are being used to develop a new way of creating solar energy, it has been reported.

Two academics at the Centre for Advanced Materials Processing at Clarkson University in the US are working on the high-tech solar applications, according to the Watertown Daily Times.

They are using the miniscule particles of gold to help them produce a tiny wire to be used in panels similar to that on a calculator or the roof of a house.

It is hoped that the nano version of this technology could prove to be more efficient and versatile.

"What we’re talking about is not quite science fiction, but it’s a futuristic vision," centre director Suryadevara Babu told the paper.

Recently, researchers in Iran used gold nanoparticles to create an extra-sensitive copper detector.

The application could have uses in the biology, medical and food industries, reported PressTV.