Graphene device detects tiniest amounts of narcotics in a jiffy
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Manchester School of Physics and Astronomy|narcotics|Mancheste|graphen|athletes' blood samples
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LONDON: A new graphene-based device can pinpoint the presence of the
tiniest amounts of performance enhancing drugs and steroids, rapidly and
accurately, in athletes' blood samples.
Graphene, isolated for the first time by Manchester scientists in 2004, lies at the heart of the new device. It has the potential to revolutionise diverse applications from smartphones and ultra-fast broadband to drug delivery and computer chips.
The breakthrough can see one molecule though a simple optical system and can analyse its components within minutes, or even detect infectious viruses. This involves plasmonics - the study of vibrations of electrons in different materials, the journal Nature Materials reports.
Scientists from the Universities of Manchester and Aix-Marseille (France), who are behind the breakthrough, said the device could also be used at airports or sensitive locations to prevent concealment of explosives by terrorists or traffickers from smuggling drugs.
Researchers, lead by Sasha Grigorenko from the Manchester School of Physics and Astronomy, suggested a new type of sensing devices, which show extremely high response to an attachment of just one relatively small molecule.
For instance, testing for toxins or drugs could be done using a simple blood test, with highly-accurate results in minutes, according to a Manchester statement.
Grigorenko said: "The whole idea of this device is to see single molecules, and really see them, under a simple optical system, say a microscope. The singular optics which utilise the unusual phase properties of light is a big and emerging field of research, and we have shown how it can have practical applications which could be of great benefit."
Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, both professors at Manchester, won the Nobel prize for Physics in 2010 for their groundbreaking work on graphene.
Graphene, isolated for the first time by Manchester scientists in 2004, lies at the heart of the new device. It has the potential to revolutionise diverse applications from smartphones and ultra-fast broadband to drug delivery and computer chips.
The breakthrough can see one molecule though a simple optical system and can analyse its components within minutes, or even detect infectious viruses. This involves plasmonics - the study of vibrations of electrons in different materials, the journal Nature Materials reports.
Scientists from the Universities of Manchester and Aix-Marseille (France), who are behind the breakthrough, said the device could also be used at airports or sensitive locations to prevent concealment of explosives by terrorists or traffickers from smuggling drugs.
Researchers, lead by Sasha Grigorenko from the Manchester School of Physics and Astronomy, suggested a new type of sensing devices, which show extremely high response to an attachment of just one relatively small molecule.
For instance, testing for toxins or drugs could be done using a simple blood test, with highly-accurate results in minutes, according to a Manchester statement.
Grigorenko said: "The whole idea of this device is to see single molecules, and really see them, under a simple optical system, say a microscope. The singular optics which utilise the unusual phase properties of light is a big and emerging field of research, and we have shown how it can have practical applications which could be of great benefit."
Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, both professors at Manchester, won the Nobel prize for Physics in 2010 for their groundbreaking work on graphene.
