Using Cinnamon In the Production of Nanoparticles

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Using Cinnamon In the Production of Nanoparticles

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 1, 2010 @10:24AM from the what-about-the-brown-sugar? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at the University of Missouri used cinnamon to replace almost all toxic chemicals needed for making gold nanoparticles used in electronics and healthcare products. Nanoparticle production requires the use of extremely dangerous and toxic chemicals. While the nanotechnology industry is expected to produce large quantities of useful nanoparticles in the near future, the entire production process could be detrimental to the environment."

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Cinnamon? by nospam007 · 2010-12-01 10:28 · Score: 3, Funny

They should taste my nano-apfelstrudel!
Hmm, food-embedded electronics? by intellitech · 2010-12-01 10:28 · Score: 2

I think advertisers just creamed themselves.

--
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
You got... by MrQuacker · 2010-12-01 10:29 · Score: 5, Funny

I can see it now...
-- You got cinnamon on my gold!
-- You got gold on my cinnamon!
-- Woah, wtf is *that*!?
1. Re:You got... by hedwards · 2010-12-01 11:38 · Score: 2
  
  Classic? You do realize that "classic" isn't a synonym for old, right? Somethings belong in the past and should remain buried there.
2. Re:You got... by alienzed · 2010-12-01 13:41 · Score: 2
  
  cinagold or goldamon? hmm, the second one sounds like a Pokemon...
  
  --
  Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
Cinnamon and Toxic chemicals by TheOtherChimeraTwin · 2010-12-01 10:31 · Score: 3, Funny

Well, that explains Cinnabon.
The Spice.. Of Course! by trollertron3000 · 2010-12-01 10:32 · Score: 4, Funny

Once again it is proved - the spice is the worm. The worm is the spice.

--
Tiger Blooded Bi-Winning Machine
1. Re:The Spice.. Of Course! by Bigjeff5 · 2010-12-01 11:51 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  And, of course, he who controls the spice controls the universe!
  *buys cinnamon*
  
  --
  Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
I hope it's true but: by geekoid · 2010-12-01 10:33 · Score: 2, Insightful

“Our gold nanoparticles are not only ecologically and biologically benign, they are also biologically active against cancer cells,”
A) How can you be benign AND active?.
B) everything is poisonous. It's the dose them makes the poison.
C) I can't see how this process uses no electricity. How does the cinnamon and gold particles get together? how is the cinnamon remove?
D) How much energy will go into harvesting more cinnamon?
I hope is true because Oz. to Oz Cinnamon will be a safer product to use in the process, but it's not magic.

--
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
1. Re:I hope it's true but: by BradleyUffner · 2010-12-01 10:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  “Our gold nanoparticles are not only ecologically and biologically benign, they are also biologically active against cancer cells,”
  A) How can you be benign AND active?.
  B) everything is poisonous. It's the dose them makes the poison.
  C) I can't see how this process uses no electricity. How does the cinnamon and gold particles get together? how is the cinnamon remove?
  D) How much energy will go into harvesting more cinnamon?
  I hope is true because Oz. to Oz Cinnamon will be a safer product to use in the process, but it's not magic.
  A: Magic
  B: Cinnamon is all natural, and there for only hurts bad things. It's good for your skin too!
  C1: Elves, C2: Free Range Hamsters
  D: None
2. Re:I hope it's true but: by Bigjeff5 · 2010-12-01 12:19 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I can't see how this process uses no electricity. How does the cinnamon and gold particles get together? how is the cinnamon remove?
  Jeeze, did you read the damn thing? They mix gold salts and cinnamon in water and get gold nanoparticles.
  There is no electricity because there is no electricity. It's a purely chemical process.
  
  --
  Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
3. Re:I hope it's true but: by not-my-real-name · 2010-12-01 13:52 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I put on my robe and wizard hat...
  
  --
  un-ALTERED reproduction and dissimination of this IMPORTANT information is ENCOURAGED
Not likely by Charliemopps · 2010-12-01 10:36 · Score: 3, Insightful

Real Cinnamon is rare and expensive, toxic chemicals usually aren't. Which do you think China's going to decide to use?
1. Re:Not likely by drinkypoo · 2010-12-01 10:38 · Score: 2
  
  Exactamundo. Cinnamon isn't exactly expensive unless you're getting something fancy, but it's a lot more expensive than putting some practically-free chemicals into a vat and running some electricity from coal through them.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
2. Re:Not likely by Bigjeff5 · 2010-12-01 11:53 · Score: 2
  
  I wonder if there is a practical difference for industrial purposes.
  
  --
  Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
3. Re:Not likely by Bigjeff5 · 2010-12-01 12:01 · Score: 2
  
  The two come from the same genus and are extremely similar. This is why cassia can be sold as low-grade "cinnamon" - it is nearly identical to the Sri Lanka variety.
  For manufacturing purposes I doubt there is any significant difference.
  
  --
  Security is mostly a superstition... Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. - Helen Keller
4. Re:Not likely by c0lo · 2010-12-01 12:10 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Here's a map with the top world producers of Cinnamon in 2005. China has 10 yellow bubbles (=10% of the world's top producer) meaning in 2005 it produced 60,000 tones of cinnamon.
  For comparison, the entire world's gold production of 2006 was 2,310 tons.
  Me thinks that the world risks running out of gold faster than China of cinnamon... but hey, I might be mistaken.
  However, on another track, TFA says:
  
  They mixed gold salts with a common spice – cinnamon – and stirred the mixture in water to synthesize gold nanoparticles.
  Now, unless one finds a method to obtain gold salts by using plain cooking salt (Ok... I'll make a concession and allow capsicum powder as well), this step may require indeed the use of toxic chemicals.
  
  --
  Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
5. Re:Not likely by Khyber · 2010-12-01 12:11 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  In my area of industry, chemically speaking there is a *HUGE* difference.
  True cinnamon works as an insecticide.
  Cassiabark extract does NOT.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
6. Re:Not likely by Khyber · 2010-12-01 12:12 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Distill the oils of both.
  Put a toothpick in each oil sample and let it soak it up.
  I'll bet twenty bucks you can hold the cassia in your mouth while the cinnamon one will blister you.
  
  --
  Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
First step in their process: by qbwiz · 2010-12-01 11:19 · Score: 2

Make cinnamon into a highly toxic chemical.

--
Ewige Blumenkraft.
Re:EXCELLENT! by camperslo · 2010-12-01 11:57 · Score: 3, Funny

In the heat of competition expect more projects to turn to toast. ...waiting for an Apple-cinnamon edible phone
The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · 2010-12-01 12:34 · Score: 5, Informative

The actual article talks about how gold nanoparticles are often made with super-strong reducing agents like sodium borohydride and how this is awesomely bad for the environment.

What the article doesn't mention is who made the very first gold nanoparticles, or how they were made.

It was Michael Faraday (yes, that Faraday), who made them using a reducing agent called. . . phosphorus. Horribly toxic, world-destroying . . . Oh, wait, it's safe. Never mind.

There are 80 thousand ways to make AuNPs, the reason the strong reducing agents are usually used is because it's simply a quicker reaction, or because you want them there to activate something else you are sticking to the surface of the nanoparticle.

Now, the part about the cinnamon extracts stabilizing the AuNPs in physiological conditions, that might be more impressive - I'm not familiar with work in that area. But the toxicity part is nothing more than a cry for attention.

--
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
1. Re:The "toxicity" part is bullshit... by MagusSlurpy · 2010-12-01 13:46 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Nice; but nowadays the toxic hydrazine and sodium borohydride are used. Then how do you come to say 'the "toxicity" part is bullshit' in your topic?
  That said, phosphorus itself is not completely harm-free itself ...
  They are only sometimes used. There are lots of current (last five years) papers where they aren't used, NaBH4 and N2H4 are just extreme examples being used - phosphorus is still used, as is sodium ascorbate (also known as vitamin C). Hell, the lab down the hall from mine makes AuNPs via laser ablation and deposition - no reducing agent needed at all, just a vacuum.
  
  Phosphorus is only dangerous if you eat it on the multi-gram scale or if you heat it, and frankly, anyone who does that gets what they deserve. If you're worried about waste, elemental phosphorus will oxidize pretty quickly with contact with air (and gold nanoparticles) and become biocompatible phosphates.
  
  Yes, white phosphorus is pyrophoric, but it's the less stable of the two allotropes, and it's pretty hard to make, so you don't need to worry about it being a sideproduct.
  
  --
  My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.