Synthesis and characterization of nanostructured noble metals for medical applications

银纳米结构材料最近被开发用于伤口治疗。这些新材料是由直径小于200亿分之一米的等轴晶体制成的，它们极大地改变了患有压疮和静脉溃疡等慢性伤口的人们的生活。在过去，有些伤口即使接受了最好的治疗也无法愈合，但当用纳米晶银治疗时，它们愈合得很好。值得注意的是，同样的纳米技术有一天可能会使患有湿疹、牛皮癣、哮喘和类风湿性关节炎等各种疾病的人受益。这个研究项目将着眼于纳米结构的贵金属，包括金、银和铂，目标是优化它们的结构，以实现包括控制炎症在内的各种生物反应。研究人员将使用复杂的真空设备来制造各种类型的纳米结构材料，然后使用先进的化学技术来表征最终材料。生物活性评估也将进行，并与材料的纳米结构相关联，以便建立结构-活性关系。这将使研究人员能够优化各种应用的材料纳米结构，并使治疗产品的开发成为可能。通过培养研究生和博士后，这项工作将使加拿大在纳米结构材料研究方面保持领先地位。它可能导致新的治疗剂的发展，这将使加拿大人受益，因为这将在纳米技术方面创造高科技就业机会，并通过治疗疾病提高他们的生活质量。

Silver nanostructured materials have recently been developed for use in wound treatment. These newmaterials, which are made of equiaxed crystals that are less than 20 billonths of a meter in diameter, have dramaticallychanged the lives of people with chronic wounds like pressure sores and venous ulcers. In the past some ofthese wounds would not heal despite receiving the best available treatment, but when treated withnanocrystalline silver they healed very well. Remarkably this same nanotechnology may one day benefitpeople with diverse diseases like eczema, psoriasis asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This research programwill look at nanostructured noble metals, including gold, silver and platinum, with a goal of optimizing theirstructures to achieve various biological responses including control of inflammation. Researchers will usesophisticated vacuumn equipment to create various types of nanostructured materials and then use advancedchemical techniques to characterize the final materials. Biological activity assessments will also be made andcorrelated to the nanostructure of the material so that the structure-activity relationships can be established.This will allow researchers to optimize the materials nanostructure for various applications and make thedevelopment of therapeutic products possible.This work will keep Canada at the forefront of nanostructured materials research through the training ofgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. It may lead to the development of new therapeutic agents whichwill benefit Canadians both by creating high tech employment opportunities in nanotechnology and byimproving their quality of life through the treatment of disease.