Nanomedicine

Nanomedicine is defined as the application of nanotechnology to achieve breakthroughs in healthcare. It exploits the improved and often novel physical, chemical and biological properties of materials at the nanometer scale and has the potential to enable early detection and prevention of diseases, ultimately at the level of single cells. At Swansea we have research programmes on, the development and use of novel nanoparticles such as CdTe quantum dots and ZnO nanowires for biological imaging and sensing; molecular scale imaging of DNA, proteins and whole organisms such as viruses and bacteria and the development of chip-based nanosensing detectors. For example, live breast cancer cells can be imaged when fluorescently labeled with nanoparticles (red light) and nuclear stains (blue light). The nanoparticles are bright enough to allow the detection of a single cancer cell within a population of 100 million, thus allowing early detection of tumours.

Bio-nanotechnology

Bio-nanotechnology is concerned with the study and control of biological materials to create devices that function at the nanoscale. Bio-nanotechnology at Swansea builds on our extensive experience of characterising biological materials such as cells and proteins at the nanoscale using atomic force microscopy (AFM).  The biological surface is an important region within biological systems as this is the loci where cells interact with their environment.  We have also extended the use of AFM’s force measurement capability to measure the interaction forces that govern many of the process located at cell surfaces and which are important for guiding protein immobilisation in biosensor construction. This is based on the novel use of a cell probe (see image) to measure the nanoscale forces of cell interaction.

Soft Nanotechnology

This area of research explores the behaviour of soft condensed matter. The focus is on both the fundamental science and applications of synthetic organic molecules. A particularly strong emphasis is placed on the behaviour of macromolecules. This includes fundamental aspects of polymer physics in the bulk, at interfaces and in thin films. Several emerging technologies are built around the properties of polymer molecules at interfaces, such as biosensors, in which enzymes are immobilised at electrodes, and organic optoelectronic devices where charge separation/recombination and conduction takes place at internal interfaces. Potential routes to fabrication of nanoscale structure in polymeric materials, often exploiting the phenomenon of self-assembly, are also examined.

Nanoelectronics

Electronic devices with dimensions of less than 100 nanometre (nm) offer far-greater performances in term of speed, energy efficiency and sensitivity than its bulk counterpart. At nanoscale, the quantum effects offer new possibility of designing novel devices with new functionalities. At Swansea, we are carrying out research into the investigation, fabrication, characterisation and application of nanoelectronics for a wide range of industries, ranging from computer to healthcare industry. Research interests are nanoscale metal contacts to low dimensional structures, ultra-fast and highly efficient nano-transistors, nano-biosensors for the early detection of diseases, ultra-sensitivity and selectivity chemical/gas sensors, nano-piezotronics and spintronics etc.

Nanomaterials

The fundamental properties of materials such as colour, melting point, electrical and thermal conductivity can be changed significantly by reducing the size of the structures towards the nanometre scale. Structures such as nanoparticles, quantum dots, nanowires and nanotubes can therefore be used as building blocks for future nanoscale devices which have the potential to revolutionise our everyday life. At Swansea, we are focussing on the growth and characterisation of metal oxide nanowires, which have a large range of applications in electronics, optoelectronics, sensing, and energy harvesting.

Scanning Probe Microscopy

Nanotechnology is all about materials and devices that are very, very, small.  So small in fact that optical microscopes are useless – the wavelength of the light is literally longer than the size of the objects we’re trying to see.  To work at this sub-microscopic level we use scanning probe microscopes which scan a very fine probe over the surface with atomic level control.  Some microscopes use force to ‘feel’ the surface of the material, some can send and receive light and some generate an electric field and see how that changes.  All these techniques allow us to gather information on adhesion energies, surface structure, electrical and optical properties of the nanomaterials.  But scanning probes go beyond just measuring information.  They can also be used to manipulate and build structures at the atomic level, pushing forward the development of novel nanostructures and nanoelectronics.  At Swansea we are world leaders in pushing forward developments of new scanning probe techniques, both for measuring biological properties and for characterising electronics devices at the sub-micron scale.

Nanoscale Simulation and Biomathematics

To compliment the experimental work carrier out in the MNC we have a dedicated theory group which develops models to inform the understanding of the system to be studied. We use quantum mechanics to calculate how nanoelectronic structures behave in order to develop better electronic and optoelectronic devices. Models are also being developed to investigate how blood clots develop and how cancer cells proliferate to further understand how diseases can be diagnosed and treated. We also have a team working on how membranes are used to separate particles and this is being expanded to investigate the toxic effects of nanoparticles. An example of some of the work is in modelling of the light output from tracker particles in cancer cells. Blue curve is initial output, red curve is output after 24hours and black curve is the theoretical light output.

For more details on the research activities in Nanotechnology, please visit the Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre website.