Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Moving molecule writes letters

By R&D Editors | February 27, 2015

The nanopore restricts the freedom of movement of the adsorbed single molecule. Image: C.-A. Palma / TUMOn the search for high-performance materials for applications such as gas storage, thermal insulators or dynamic nanosystems it’s essential to understand the thermal behavior of matter down to the molecular level. Classical thermodynamics average over time and over a large number of molecules. Within a 3-D space single molecules can adopt an almost infinite number of states, making the assessment of individual species nearly impossible.

Now researchers from Technical Univ. Munich (TUM) and Linköping Univ. (LIU) have developed a methodology, which allows to explore equilibrium thermodynamics of single molecules with atomic resolution at appreciable temperatures. The breakthrough study is based on two pillars: a technology which allows to cage molecules within 2-D nanopores and extensive computational modeling.

Trapped in two dimensions
At the Chair of Molecular Nanoscience and Chemical Physics of Interfaces at TU Munich, led by Prof. Dr. Johannes V. Barth, Dr. Florian Klappenberger developed the method to produce high-quality metal-organic networks on a silver surface. The network forms nanopores which restrict the freedom of movement of adsorbed single molecules in two dimensions. Using scanning tunneling microscopy the researchers were able to track their motions at different temperatures with sub-nanometer resolution.

Parallel to the experiments, the researchers worked with sophisticated computer models to describe the temperature dependence of the dynamics of these single trapped molecules. “We have applied state-of-the-art supercomputer calculations to understand the interactions and energy landscape determining the motion of the molecules”, says Jonas Björk of Linköping Univ.

Comparing experimental and modeled data the scientists unraveled that under certain conditions the integral theory approaches a simple projection of the molecular positions in space. This approach is central to statistical mechanics, but has never before been challenged to reproduce an experiment, due to the practically infinite molecular positions and energies one needed to consider without the nanoscale confinement.

Analogy to biology
“It was extremely exciting to employ two-dimensional networks as a confinement strategy to reduce the available conformational space of a single molecule, like a chaperone does with a protein,” says Dr. Carlos-Andres Palma, the lead author of the study. “In analogy to biology, such form of confinement technology has the potential to establish sensors, nanomachines and possibly logics controlled by and made of molecular distributions.”

Applying their knowledge of characteristic equilibrium configurations, the researchers carefully modulated the nanopore, thus making a single molecule write letters of the alphabet such as L, I and U, just by fine-tuning the temperature.

Source: Technical Univ. Munich

Related Articles Read More >

Marine-biodegradable polymer is as strong as nylon
Unilever R&D head lifts lid on AI, robots and beating the ‘grease gap’
First CRISPR-edited spider spins red fluorescent silk
KIST carbon nanotube supercapacitor holds capacity after 100,000 cycles
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE