Medieval Churches Solar Powered Nanotech Pioneers
Painting glass windows with gold nanoparticles offers a way to purify the air, say researchers. Zhu Huai Yong, an associate professor at Queensland University of Technology’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, highlights the fact that glaziers in medieval forges were the first nanotechnologists who produced colours with gold nanoparticles of different sizes. Zhu says that tiny particles of gold, when energised by the sun, can destroy air-borne pollutants like volatile organic chemical (VOCs), which may often come from new furniture, carpets and paint in good condition.