NIST Technicalendar Single Item Display: Meeting at NIST Item ID: 095406James0.157453963447

2/5/09 10:30 AM - CNST NANOFABRICATION RESEARCH GROUP SEMINAR: NANOPARTICLE ASSEMBLY, MANIPULATION, AND METROLOGY

The novel properties of nanoparticles are driving the rapid growth of nanotechnology in the global market while simultaneously provoking concern about nanometer scale Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) issues. The abilities of the private sector to capitalize on these opportunities and the public sector to address these challenges remain limited by conventional methods of nanoparticle synthesis and characterization. The concurrent need for increased analytical ability in the life sciences and the drive to elucidate nanoscale and single molecule phenomena are spurring the development of fluidic devices with critical dimensions that enhance control over interactions with nanoscale analytes. Almost all nanofluidic devices remain limited in form and function by planar microfabrication and nanofabrication processes developed by the semiconductor electronics industry. In this presentation, I will describe our efforts to solve several related problems at the convergence of these trends via the development of enabling fluidic devices for the assembly, manipulation and metrology of nanoparticles. Soft matter nanobioparticles have significant potential for therapeutic applications including drug delivery and gene therapy. I will present the results of our investigation of the microfluidic environment that determines the characteristics of self-assembled nanoscale lipid vesicles and the use of these liposomes as nanoscale templates for the formation of derivative hydrogel nanoparticles. I will then describe our advances in fluorescence fluctuation analysis for the accurate characterization of the encapsulation and confinement of single biomolecules in nanoscale liposomes for biophysical investigations. I will also present our development of next generation nanofluidic structures with complex and curving surfaces for the enhanced manipulation and metrology of nanoscale analytes, with an emphasis on single molecule analysis and nanoparticle sorting applications.

Samuel Stavis , National Research Council Research Associate.

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