Article published Nanomaterials
Tracking them down!
Traceability is one of the keys to increased use of nanomaterials. CEA LITEN has developed two effective labelling methods with an eye to the responsible development of this type of technology.
Nanomaterials are everywhere... in industry, energy sources, the environment or medicine. The ability to trace these products precisely has become one of the keys to their acceptance by the public at large. One way of achieving this would be to persuade leading nanoparticle manufacturers to label them as soon as they are synthesised, using tracers that indicate their presence and even include precise information as to their type. The manufacturers could then conserve a “label” for each nanoparticle used in making this type of product. Working to promote responsible development, LITEN has taken various types of marking technology developed to combat counterfeiting and adapted them to this new challenge. It has shown, for example, that a genuine optical barcode can be obtained by combining several fluorescent markers (e.g. quantum dots, fluorophors) in nanotracers. While it may only be able to store a small amount of information, the technique does provide highly resistant markers (with respect to UV, chemicals and temperature). CEA has also developed a portable spectrometer for accurate reading in just a few seconds. Another approach, based on LETI's research work on DNA chips, is to mark nanomaterials using short oligonucleotide strands. This patented technology encodes a great deal of information, including the type of product, the manufacturer, batch number and production date. Tests have shown that ultra-traces of oligonucleotides grafted on nanoparticles can be detected (carbon nanotube application). The quantities of markers used in both these approaches are compatible with most nanomaterial applications, apart from those calling for ultrapure nanomaterials, such as microelectronics.
