|
Abstract:
Scientists at the University of Glasgow have imaged the self-assembly of nano-particles, unveiling the blueprint for building designer molecular machines atom-by-atom.
Scientists ‘photograph’ nano-particle self-assembly
Scotland | Posted on January 4th, 2010Working out how nano-particles are built is key to developing new ‘intelligent materials', electronic devices, and understanding the bio-machinery that operates in living cells.
The ability to control this self-assembly has profound consequences for the development of new technologies as well as understanding the basis for complex chemistry, and for example, the origins of life.
In a study reported in the journal Science this week, researchers at Glasgow, along with colleagues at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, devised an experiment which enabled them to observe molecules being constructed around what appeared to be a transient template cluster.
The experiment involved the construction a flow reactor system for the assembly of the nano-particles under dynamic ‘flowing' conditions. This new experimental approach allows self-assembly to be examined in a new way at the nano-level, giving rise to unprecedented mechanistic information unmasking the complexities of molecular self-assembly.
Self-assembly describes the process by which objects form a particular arrangement without any external manipulation.
During the experiment, the researchers observed the self-assembly of molybdenum oxide wheel molecules around an intermediate structure in the centre of the wheel which they found to be the ‘template' or scaffold used to construct the larger molecule. Following completion of the molybdenum oxide wheel molecule, which is just 3.6 nanometres in diameter, the template was ejected, freeing it to repeat the process.
The researchers were able to ‘photograph' this process and the template using X-ray crystallography.
Professor Leroy Cronin, Gardiner Chair of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, who devised and led the study, said: "This advance is very important since in the construction of molecular nano-objects we must rely on ‘self-assembly' where the nano-scale objects builds itself - a process which is almost impossible to understand or control using current step-wise chemical synthesis approaches
"Therefore, understanding the assembly process is vital if we are to create a new range of functional nano-objects.
"This discovery could lead the way for the designed assembly of a whole range of precisely-defined nano-particles with applications in electronics, medicine, and catalysis to allow the design of intelligent or smart nano-sensors and nano-functional machines, not to mention the fundamental implications regarding the assembly of complex chemical systems, the most spectacular example of which are living cells."
The idea of ‘molecular machines', was popularised by US engineer Eric Drexler from the 1970s and involves controlling the positions of molecules in chemical reactions to obtain the desired result.
While scientists can already synthesise many substances and materials in chemistry through the interactions of different compounds, at the nanoscale the task becomes almost impossible because it becomes harder to control.
Cronin added: "This result is massively interesting, not only do we get to ‘image' self-assembly for the first time using this type of flow system, this discovery will allow us to devise new types of blueprint that could allow the assembly of a whole new class of designer nano-particles opening a whole new world of discoveries and applications.
"This approach will also give information about the fidelity of self-assembly which is of great topical interest especially related to the health impacts of nano-particles in our environment".
The paper, entitled: ‘Unveiling the Transient Template in the Self-Assembly of a Molecular Oxide Nanowheel' is the cover story in the latest edition of the journal Science.
Notes to Editors
Lee Cronin has been working in the area of Molecular Self Assembly for the last decade and was recently awarded a 2007 £70,000 Philip Leverhulme Prize for his efforts in this area. He leads a team looking to apply self assembly to design new molecular computers and devices and was awarded a £3.8 M programme grant in this area by the EPSRC in November 2009.
The molybdenum oxide wheels were first discovered by Achim Mueller and colleagues at University of Bielefeld, and they have been the basis for a new type of chemistry and applications in material science. #### For more information, please click here
Contacts: Stuart Forsyth University of Glasgow Media Relations Office 0141 330 4831
Copyright © University of Glasgow
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
News and information
LEDs are getting better, much better September 8th, 2010
Ener1 Raising Funds For Indiana Expansion September 8th, 2010
2010 Kavli Prize Laureates Honored in Oslo September 8th, 2010
ICALEO 2010 Celebrates All Things Laser September 8th, 2010
Chemistry
Beneq sells first Particle ALDTM system to the CRP - Gabriel Lippmann September 7th, 2010
Book Review: Nanotechnology for the Energy Challenge September 7th, 2010
The Medal Of The Chemical Research Society Of India Awarded To Penn State Chemist Ayusman Sen September 6th, 2010
NanoKTN Member Wins Prestigious SET For Britain Award September 6th, 2010
Possible Futures
Fashion Forward: Nanofabrics Take Textiles Into The Future! September 8th, 2010
Physicists Build a Memory that Stores Entanglement September 8th, 2010
Clean Water for the Developing World September 8th, 2010
Nano technology could cool the heat from server farms September 7th, 2010
Molecular Machines
Cobalt-Controlled Communication September 6th, 2010
A model system for group behavior of nanomachines September 5th, 2010
Science Fiction Chronicle September 4th, 2010
Exciting thriller blends sci-fi, horror themes September 4th, 2010
Self Assembly
Developments in Nanobiotechnology at UCSB Point to Medical Applications September 3rd, 2010
Advances in Nanotechnology could produce new devices August 3rd, 2010
Kinked Nanopores Slow DNA Passage for Easier Sequencing August 2nd, 2010
Collaboration Leads to Simpler Method for Building Varieties of Nanocrystal Superlattices July 22nd, 2010
Nanomedicine
Oregon universities, companies harvest $850 million in grants September 8th, 2010
To Reach, Perchance to Kill the Cancer: A Soliloquy From Epeius Nanotechnologies Opposes That 'Sea of Troubles' September 8th, 2010
Fashion Forward: Nanofabrics Take Textiles Into The Future! September 8th, 2010
NanoInk Releases Two New Nanoscale Applications in Biology for the NLP 2000 System September 8th, 2010
Sensors
Novelda AS to Exhibit Nanoscale Impulse Radar at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, China September 6th, 2010
Strain-Gating Piezotronics: Researchers Create New Class of Piezoelectric Logic Devices Using Zinc Oxide Nanowires September 3rd, 2010
Imec European collaborative research to develop lab-on-chip system for cheap and fast cancer diagnosis September 2nd, 2010
Progress with thermoelectric harvesting August 31st, 2010
Nanoelectronics
MSU FRIB project achieves major milestone September 7th, 2010
Cobalt-Controlled Communication September 6th, 2010
Strain-Gating Piezotronics: Researchers Create New Class of Piezoelectric Logic Devices Using Zinc Oxide Nanowires September 3rd, 2010
Washington Metro Region Nanotechnology Partnership Forum at NIST September 3rd, 2010
Announcements
FutureCarbon at Composites Europe 2010 – Look into High-Tech Super-Composites live September 8th, 2010
Nano-Enabled Wireless Handsets to Fuel Nanotech Growth September 8th, 2010
NanoInk Releases Two New Nanoscale Applications in Biology for the NLP 2000 System September 8th, 2010
JPK Instruments announce the Vortis™ Advanced fully digital SPM Control Station September 8th, 2010
Nanobiotechnology
To Reach, Perchance to Kill the Cancer: A Soliloquy From Epeius Nanotechnologies Opposes That 'Sea of Troubles' September 8th, 2010
NanoInk Releases Two New Nanoscale Applications in Biology for the NLP 2000 System September 8th, 2010
Coriolis PharmaService chooses NanoSight to study the aggregation of protein drugs and vaccines September 8th, 2010
Beneq sells first Particle ALDTM system to the CRP - Gabriel Lippmann September 7th, 2010
|