Experts in the field of nanoscience have discovered a way of controlling the motion and detecting the forces that move molecules within molecules.
Their ground-breaking discovery could play a major role in the development of nanomechanical devices. For instance — looking far into the future it could transform the way computer microchips are assembled reducing the size of computers and at the same time making them much more powerful.
This research at the nano scale — 10 nanometers is 10,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair — is so fundamental that the applications are, for the time being, purely hypothetical. However, it helps in understanding of how molecules can be manipulated and positioned at the single-molecule level. It could lead to the use of molecules as components for electronic devices and could also lead to significant applications for biomedical sciences and sensors technology.
Researchers at The University of Nottingham are among a team of experts from across the globe, led by Dr Makoto Ashino at the University of Hamburg, who have measured the mechanical responses of molecules to the atom at the tip of an atomic force microscope.
The research has been published in
Nature Nanotechnology.
In collaboration with experts at the University of Hamburg, the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Germany, the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, researchers at The University of Nottingham have played a key role in this ground-breaking discovery.
Dr Andrei Khlobystov, Associate Professor and Reader in Chemical Nanosciences in the School of Chemistry, specialises in the chemistry of carbon nanostructures — with a particular emphasis on the chemistry inside carbon nanotubes — using the nanotube with a typical diameter of 1-2 nm as a miniature test tube.
Dr Khlobystov designed a structure of carbon nanotubes in which the movement and response of the molecules could be measured. He said: “It was a long and iterative process, but eventually I developed a technique which allowed us to fill nanotubes with molecules and at the same time to keep nanotubes well-dispersed.”
The crucial experiments were carried out by Dr Makoto Ashino from the Institute of Applied Physics and Microstructure Research Centre, University of Hamburg. Using the materials prepared by Dr Kholbystov he probed the structures with dynamic non-contact atomic force microscopy (AFM) — a high resolution type of atomic force microscope capable of producing a three dimensional profile of surface structures measuring attractive forces within just fractions of a nanometer.
In addition to studying the surface topography of these structures the team simultaneously measured the energy lost by the vibrating tip of the AFM as it moved over the surface of the structures.
Nanotechnology is so small powerful microscopes are needed just to see it but it has already had a huge impact on our everyday lives. Nanotechnology is used in sports, clothing, motoring, engineering, medicines and forensics.
Scientists have been able to confine small molecules inside larger molecules for a number of years. They have even been able to watch the movement of the smaller molecules inside molecules. However, until now, it has not been possible to control this motion or measure the forces that move the smaller molecules.
Dr Ashino said: "Our achievements are directly related to the development of nanomechanical devices. We have shown that the manipulation of individual molecular oscillations can be activated by the energy transfer from a truly mechanical oscillator via the nanotube to the molecule. The site-specific control of individual dynamic motions in a chain of molecules can be important for the future development and precise control of nano-molecular machines and nano-transporters (i.e. long-distance transporting of individual molecules), as well as for ultra-sensitive molecular sensors."
The online version of the paper is available at
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nnano.2008.126.html .
Source: University of Nottingham
Related stories:
Study Details How Platinum Nanocages 'Cook' Cancer Cells
Platinum-based anticancer agents have a long history as proven therapeutic agents, but their toxicity and short lifetime in the body and the ability of tumors to develop resistance to these drugs limit the ultimate utility of these agents.
Japanese researchers eye 'e-skin' for robots
Japanese researchers say they have developed a rubber that is able to conduct electricity well, paving the way for robots with stretchable "e-skin" that can feel heat and pressure like humans.
Golden scales: Nanoscale mass sensor from Berkeley can be used to weigh individual atoms and molecules
(PhysOrg.com) -- There's a new "gold standard" in the sensitivity of weighing scales. Using the same technology with which they created the world's first fully functional nanotube radio, researchers with Berkeley Lab and the University of California at Berkeley have fashioned a nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) that can function as a scale sensitive enough to measure the mass of a single atom of gold.
Water inside single-walled carbon nanotubes
Researchers have identified a signature for water inside single-walled carbon nanotubes, helping them understand how water is structured and how it moves within these tiny channels.
New detector uses nanotubes to sense deadly gases
Using carbon nanotubes, MIT chemical engineers have built the most sensitive electronic detector yet for sensing deadly gases such as the nerve agent sarin.
How buckyballs hurt cells
A new study into the potential health hazards of the revolutionary nano-sized particles known as ‘buckyballs’ predicts that the molecules are easily absorbed into animal cells, providing a possible explanation for how the molecules could be toxic to humans and other organisms.
Warming up for Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Standard magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, is a superb diagnostic tool but one that suffers from low sensitivity, requiring patients to remain motionless for long periods of time inside noisy, claustrophobic machines. A promising new MRI method, much faster, more selective — able to distinguish even among specific target molecules — and many thousands of times more sensitive, has now been developed in the laboratory by researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley.
Sandia researcher examines the physics of carbon nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes, described as the reigning celebrity of the advanced materials world, are all the rage. Recently researchers at Rice University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used them to make the “blackest black” — the darkest known material, reflecting only 0.045 percent of all light shined on it.