Purdue chemist Hicham Fenniri has created molecules designed to automatically find each other and link to form elaborate but tiny tubes. The new technique allows scientists, for the first time, to use self-assembly techniques to develop nanoscale structures with specific dimensions and chemical properties. The findings, which will be detailed in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, may help pave the way for designing new materials, electronic devices and drug delivery systems for use in the atom-size realm of nanotechnology. We not only dictate how the molecule behaves, but we also can control the dimensions and chemical properties of the resulting nanotube. The idea of using very small components, or nanotechnology, to make computers and electrical devices including biomedical devices that could be inserted into the body has been the subject of much scientific interest and research.
Nanotechnology refers to components only a few nanometers in size.
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. The nanotubes developed at Purdue are the first to use a self-assembly process capable of producing the tiny structures in large quantities, making the process more feasible for use. Self-assembly is a principle familiar in biology, where the right mix of biological molecules will interact on their own to form distinctive structures, such as cells, tissues and organs. Numerous rosettes then combine to form tiny, rod-like structures, or nanotubes. Created from elements that normally bind together, the molecule recognizes and wants to mate with itself.