Gold-based platform enables direct visualization of nanoscale binding forces
by Robert Schreiber
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Oct 24, 2025
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have launched an environment friendly methodology for analyzing the forces that maintain collectively the smallest objects in nature. Their approach, which employs gold flakes suspended in salt water and illuminated with gentle, varieties a visualized platform for investigating nature’s invisible glue. Using two skinny glass plates and gold-coated surfaces, the experimental setup enables scientists to look at these forces as distinct colours mirrored by the self-assembled cavities between the flakes and the substrate.
The analysis crew, led by doctoral scholar Michaela Hoskova, demonstrated that gold flakes launched to a salt answer naturally gravitate in direction of a gold-coated substrate however depart nanometric areas between the flakes and the floor. These cavities act as gentle resonators, producing seen shade adjustments below a microscope geared up with a spectrometer. As noticed on related screens, the nanoparticles constantly transfer and alter shade in actual time.
Through trapped gentle inside these cavities, the crew exactly measures the stability of opposing forces at play, the Casimir impact, which pulls gold flakes collectively and to the floor, and electrostatic forces within the answer, which hold them aside. When the forces attain equilibrium, a self-assembly course of leads to the formation of nanoscale cavities, unlocking new alternatives for understanding nanoscale interactions. “What we are seeing is how fundamental forces in nature interact with each other. Through these tiny cavities, we can now measure and study the forces we call ‘nature’s glue’ – what binds objects together at the smallest scales. We don’t need to intervene in what is happening, we just observe the natural movements of the flakes,” mentioned Michaela Hoskova.
This platform is an evolution of years of work by Professor Timur Shegai’s analysis group at Chalmers. From their foundational discovery that gold flakes self-assemble into resonators, the group has refined a approach to probe particle-level interactions. According to Shegai, “The method allows us to study the charge of individual particles and the forces acting between them. Other methods for studying these forces often require sophisticated instruments which cannot provide information down to the particle level.”
The improvement opens avenues throughout physics, chemistry, materials science, and know-how, with implications for understanding interactions in liquids, drug supply pathways, biosensor development, water filters, and the steadiness of shopper merchandise. Hoskova emphasizes the accessibility of the method, noting, “What I find most exciting is that the measurement itself is so beautiful and easy. The method is simple and fast, based only on the movement of gold flakes and the interaction between light and matter.”
The experimental system consists of roughly 10 micrometre gold flakes positioned in saltwater, deposited onto a gold-coated substrate. Nanometric cavities type as self-assembly pushed by the Casimir pressure and electrostatic repulsion. Using a halogen lamp and an optical microscope with spectrometry, scientists can analyze the distance-dependent results by adjusting salinity and recording shade variations. All components required for evaluation are enclosed between two glass plates.
Research Report:Casimir self-assembly: A platform for measuring nanoscale surface interactions in liquids
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