Midas Works on Merino

Victoria University researchers have added particles of pure gold and silver to fine merino wool in the interest of haute couture. The researchers demonstrated the first scarf dyed with gold nanoparticles at the 2008 Nano Science and Technology Institute convention in Boston. Lead researcher Professor Jim Johnston said the development would be akin to being clothed in pure gold or silver. “We want to create a fashion icon, like Louis Vuitton or Gucci, where the logo will speak for itself,” Discovery News quoted Johnston as saying. He estimated that the scarf made of the wool displayed at the conference “hot off the loom,” would cost between up to $US300 ($NZ405). Though expensive, the actual procedure was simple. “This whole area of nanotechnology can be done in a bucket with cheap chemicals at room temperature,” Johnston acknowledged, “but what we are getting out is something of a very high-end value.”