MAFuMa Seminar Series - 27th May 2016

Start: May 27, 2016 03:00 PM

End: May 27, 2016 04:00 PM

Location: Room 309, Roberts Building, UCL

"Reporters, Killers and Agents, made of Gold" 

by Professor Mathias Brust, University of Liverpool, UK

Abstract:

This talk highlights three different roles gold nanoparticles can play within biological and biomimetic environments. After a short general introduction to the synthesis and the main properties of these materials, I will focus first on the use of gold nanorods for in vivo photo-acoustic imaging and tracking of stem cells. This will be followed by an account of our recent work on photothermal/photodynamic killing of cancer cells using gold nanoparticles under laser illumination. Finally, it will be discussed how gold nanoparticles can be designed to enable charge transfer across biological and model membranes.

Biography:

Mathias Brust, originally from Hamburg, has been an academic member of staff at the University of Liverpool since 1998, and since 2006, a professor of chemistry. His main research interest over many years has been the interaction of functionalised gold nanoparticles with biological systems both for fundamental interest and with the aim to develop new bioanalytical and biomedical tools.  He was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2013 to develop and study performance active nanoparticles under non-equilibrium conditions. This concept mimics biological energy conversion processes using predominantly non-biological constituents.