We are supporting the development of future gold technologies by investing in research and development
The World Gold Council is supporting the development of future gold technologies by investing in applied research, development and feasibility studies in the emerging uses of gold within the following areas:
- medical diagnostics
- advanced drug delivery & therapeutics eg: cancer treatments
- pollution control
- water purification
- renewable, clean energy eg: solar cells
Gold’s unique properties have given rise to substantial and widespread interest in the application of gold in these areas. Thousands of copies of our recent white paper ‘Gold for Good – Gold and Nanotechnology in the Age of Innovation’ have been requested since its publication early in 2010. The popularity of this report confirms the numbers of people who share our excitement about this technology.
We have now followed up on this white paper with a second article entitled Gold: The hidden element in innovation (view the video). Here we detail how the World Gold Council supports the development of early-stage technologies which can often struggle to attract the interest of investors capable of bringing them to market. A key objective is to help relevant gold-based innovations bridge this ‘funding gap’, so that many of them ultimately evolve into successful commercial uses, benefiting society in the longer-term.
In working with some of the world’s leading researchers, examples of technologies that we have helped to progress from basic research towards commercialisation include:
- A market changing partnership with Silicon Valley-based Nanostellar, a company pioneering the use of gold in automotive emission control. Our investment has successfully aided acceleration of the technology, which is entering production in the first quarter of 2011.
- Supporting Professor Molly Stevens and her team at Imperial College London, who are exploiting the versatility of gold nanoparticles to design tools which are showing great promise in improving the early diagnosis of many diseases including HIV/AIDS and sepsis.
- Facilitating a successful partnership between South African catalyst producers Mintek and Rice university researchers. The Rice team have developed a gold-alloy nanoparticle catalyst which breaks down poisonous groundwater pollutants, a common health hazard.
For more information please email technology@gold.org
Our journal, Gold Bulletin, brings ground-breaking gold science and technology to the widest possible audience by highlighting new discoveries concerning scientific uses of gold.
