Scientists Create the First Synthetic Nanoscale Fractal Molecule

I keep waiting for this nanotech stuff to break wide open...especially the bio-nanotech developments...

ATHENS, Ohio – From snowflakes to the leaves on a tree, objects in nature are made of irregular molecules called fractals. Scientists now have created and captured an image of the largest man-made fractal molecule at the nanoscale.

The molecule, developed by researchers at the University of Akron, Ohio University and Clemson University, eventually could lead to new types of photoelectric cells, molecular batteries and energy storage, according to the scientists, whose study was published online today by the journal Science.

A University of Akron research team led by Vice President for Research George Newkome used molecular self-assembly techniques to synthesize the molecule in the laboratory. The molecule, bound with ions of iron and ruthenium, forms a hexagonal gasket.

Ohio University physicists Saw-Wai Hla and Violeta Iancu, who specialize in imaging objects at the nanoscale, confirmed the creation of the man-made fractal. To capture the image, the physicists sprayed the molecules onto a piece of gold, chilled them to minus 449 degrees Fahrenheit to keep them stable, and then viewed them with a scanning tunneling microscope.

Though invisible to the naked eye – the molecules are about one million times smaller than the colorful hexagons shown in the Science image – the objects are 12 nanometers wide. “That’s big for a nanoscale molecule. It’s huge,” said Hla, an associate professor of physics and astronomy.

“This man-made structure is one of the first nanoscale, non-branched fractal molecules ever produced,” said Newkome, who is lead author on the Science paper and also serves as dean of the Graduate School and the James and Vanita Oelschlager Professor of Science and Technology at the University of Akron. “Blending mathematics, art and science, these nanoscopic hexagonal-shaped materials can be self-assembled and resemble a fine bead necklace. These precise polymers — the first example of a molecule possessing a ‘Star of David’ motif — may provide an entrée into novel new types of photoelectric cells, molecular batteries and energy storage.”

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nanotechnology