A UF team of particle engineers has made a discovery with explosive possibilities.
Vijay Krishna, Nathanael Stevens, Ben Koopman and Brij Moudgil discovered that certain molecules burn when hit by a low-wattage laser.
This discovery has more than a dozen practical applications, such as cancer treatment, explosive detonation and satellite propulsion.
The paper about their research was published in Nature Nanotechnology’s advance online edition on March 14.
Moudgil, director of the Engineering College’s Particle Engineering Research Center where the research took place, said the discovery happened by accident.
The team was working in October 2006 with molecules that purify water, but they soon pursued the new discovery.
“Finally, we saw the light, literally,” Moudgil said.
Moudgil and Krishna, a postdoctoral fellow in the Particle Engineering Research Center, said the practical applications are the most important and exciting aspect of the discovery.
The molecules, called fullerenes, can attach to cancer cells.
When hit by a low-wattage laser, the fullerenes heat the water inside the cancer cells until the cancerous cells burst, Moudgil said.
The surrounding, healthy cells are left unharmed, he said.
“It caused stress in the cells, and after 10 seconds, we just see the cells pop,” Krishna said.
