NGUYEN1	SYNTHESIS AND MEASUREMENT OF GOLD NANORODS
Type	Experimental
#students	1
Orientation	Nanoparticles can provide useful building blocks in many structural and functional assemblies. One of the particular challenges is to synthesise nanoparticles with defined chemistry, shape and size with functional elements at their surfaces to enable the assembly process. A second important issue is to measure these properties to ensure that the particles are suitable for their purpose. In the latter area, there is an absence of knowledge in how to interpret data and which methods to use because most methods assume that particles are spherical. There is a pressing need for well characterised materials of known shape and chemistry to develop new models for data interpretation.
How	We will concentrate on gold nanorods of defined shape, measured using electron microscopy, and examine the influence of these shapes upon data acquired using light scattering, optical absorption, sedimentation and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The gold particles will be coated with organic materials of well-defined chemistries, including self-assembled monolayers of thiols.
What	The study will be conducted in a modern laboratory at The Royal Institution of Great Britain, which has a long and distinguished 200 year history, including the award of 14 Nobel Prizes, the discovery of 10 elements, and the invention of the electric generator, to name just a few of many seminal achievements. For more details, you can go to Prof Thanh website: http://www.ntk-thanh.co.uk. The student can make informal contact by emailing Prof Thanh: ntk.thanh@ucl.ac.uk
Special Knowlegde	Chemistry A level at least, open minded and willing to learn
Supervisor	Prof Nguyen TK Thanh