Kiran Chug writes about the work of Victoria University chemists who have developed a means of bonding gold nanoparticles to merino wool.
The size and shape of the nanoparticles determines the wool’s colour, and the textile will be marketed as a luxury brand.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“Only tiny nanoparticles of gold are bonded to the merino fibres, and the gold is not visible to the naked eye – though changing the size and shape of the gold nanoparticles allows Dr Lucas to alter the colour of the wool.
“”They’re so small they don’t change the property of the wool.”
“With help from the McDiarmid Institute and the World Gold Council, the team had bought gold on the open market.
“An Italian company that spins wool used by fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Armani is to start spinning the new wool, and it will be in clothing sold in the London store of British wool retailer John Smedley.”