| Nanoputians Set to Invade |
| Sunday, 08 May 2005 | |
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Davina E. Stevenson ventures into Nanoput In the land of the Nanoputians, science meets art. A research group at Rice University in Texas has achieved the ultimate in designed miniaturisation by making a family of molecules which resemble humans but are only 0.000000002 metres tall! The family name is derived from the Lilliputians that lived in Jonathan Swift’s classic story Gulliver’s Travels . The name also describes their size, as nano means 1x10 -9 (or 0.000000001 metres).
Since the age of the caveman, drawings and structures have been simplified into lines: the ultimate chemical formula uses lines to represent a carbon framework, where each line has a carbon atom at the end. To simplify research, chemists often describe molecules with terms such as ‘east’ and ‘west’, and for the Nanoputian this is extended to include body parts such as ‘head’, ‘neck’ and ‘legs’. When represented on paper according to the standard methods used by chemists, certain molecules actually look like parts of cartoon people. Following the rules of chemistry, the angle of the line depends on how many and what other types of atoms are attached to the carbon atom. So rather than just being a cartoon, the molecular structure of the Nanokid (seen below and right) actually represents a precisely defined molecule. Generally chemists aim to use the least number of reactions to make a compound. To create a Nanoputian, this entails joining the top and bottom of the ‘bodies’ at the ‘waist’. From the first Nanokid a whole family of Nanoputians was born, and all that was needed was a kitchen microwave to give the system energy and swap the heads. The population now includes characters such as the NanoAthlete, NanoJester and the NanoBaker. How do we know what these structures really look like? Chemists use techniques such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (which uses a powerful magnet) to determine structure. We can also detect the mass of a compound, and use computer programs to add colour to depictions of atoms and predict structures. Are these just the fantasies of a mad chemist? No, these molecules have very useful applications when combined to form larger structures. At present, limits in microchip technology mean that wires are at least two millimetres (0.002 metres) in width, but imagine using a row of Nanoputians with a molecular diameter of one-nanometre to reduce the size of the wire by 100 times! A wide variety of clinical and engineering applications might be possible using these Nanoputians to transfer signals. Dr Jim Tour has already demonstrated that these nanocells can be used as non-volatile memory for computer chips. They offer the potential to reduce the size and, therefore, the fabrication costs of electrical components: the two factors critical to electronics in the 21st century. This is not the first attempt to create art from chemistry: Professor Kawata’s research group at Osaka University , Japan has used a resin to make a bull-shaped structure that is 0.00001 metres long. Not bad, but this is still 5000 times longer and 200000000000 times the volume of a Nanokid! Although comical and mocked by many chemists, these structures are not only potentially useful, but are an invaluable way to give non-scientists of all ages a new appreciation of chemical design and synthesis in a friendly and entertaining way. As a bonus, they show that not all chemists are boring! Davina E. Stevenson is a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry. |
Synthetic chemists are fascinated by the molecular building blocks of life, but these are invisible to the naked eye and can be daunting when described by complex structures, abstract theories and formulae. | < Prev | Next > |
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