Bouquets of nanoflowers with a golden touch

Using nano-sized spheres as a starting point, researcher Juan Wang of the University of Twente (MESA+ Institute) creates fascinating structures that can have a wide range of shapes and functionalities. They can even achieve a beautiful flower-like appearance with nanowires connected by gold nanospheres. The new nanostructures can be designed for detecting chemical or biological substances at their surface. They have unique optical properties and can also mimic a biological surface that attracts or repels water.