(Press-News.org) Scientists have discovered that a space inside a special type of carbon molecule can be used to imprison other smaller molecules such as hydrogen or water.
The nano-metre sized cavity of the hollow spherical C60 Buckminsterfullerene — or bucky ball — effectively creates a 'nanolaboratory', allowing detailed study of the quantum mechanical principles that determine the motion of the caged molecule, including the mysterious wave-like behaviour that is a fundamental property of all matter.
Experiments by the international collaboration of researchers, including physicists from The University of Nottingham, have revealed the wave-like behaviour and show how the imprisoned H2 and H2O molecules 'quantum rattle' in their cage.
Professor Tony Horsewill, of the School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Nottingham, said: "For me a lot of the motivation for carrying out this investigation came from the sheer pleasure of studying such a unique and beautiful molecule and teasing out the fascinating insights it gave into the fundamentals of quantum molecular dynamics. Intellectually, it's been hugely enjoyable.
"However, as with any blue-skies research initiative there is always the promise of new, often unforeseen, applications. Indeed, in the case of water molecules inside bucky balls we have a guest molecule that possesses an electric dipole moment and the collaboration is already investigating its use in molecular electronics, including as an innovative component of a molecular transistor."
The research, which involved scientists from the US, Japan, France, Estonia and the universities of Nottingham and Southampton in the UK, has recently been published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The discovery of the C60 Buckminsterfullerene, and the related class of molecules the fullerenes, in the mid-1980s earned Professors Harry Kroto, Robert Curl and the late Richard Smalley the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1996.
It has a cage-like spherical structure made up for 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons and resembles a soccer ball, earning it the nickname 'bucky ball'.
In a recent breakthrough in synthetic chemistry, the Japanese scientists from Kyoto have invented a molecular surgery technique allowing them to successfully permanently seal small molecules such as H2 and H2O inside C60.
They used a set of surgical synthetic procedures to open the C60 'cage' producing an opening large enough to 'push' a H2 or H2O molecule inside at high temperature and pressure. The system was then cooled down to stabilise the entrapped molecule inside and the cage was surgically repaired to reproduce a C60.
Professor Horsewill added: "This technique succeeds in combining perhaps the universe's most beautiful molecule C60 with its simplest."
The Nottingham research group has employed a technique called inelastic neutron scattering (INS) where a beam of neutrons, fundamental particles that make up the atomic nucleus, is used to investigate the 'cage rattling' motion of the guest molecules within the C60.
Their investigations have given an insight into the wavelike nature of H20 and H2 molecules and their orbital and rotational motion as they move within the C60.
Professor Malcolm Levitt, of the School of Chemistry at The University of Southampton, who has used the technique nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study the quantum properties of the caged molecules, said: "By confining small molecules such as water in fullerene cages we provide the controlled environment of a laboratory but on the scale of about one nanometre.
"Under these conditions, the confined molecules reveal a wave-like nature and behave according to the laws of quantum mechanics. Apart from their intrinsic interest, we expect that the special properties of these materials will lead to a variety of applications, such as new ways to brighten the images of MRI scans, and new types of computer memory."
The work published in the PNAS paper has also separately identified two subtly different forms of H2O — ortho-water and para-water . These so called nuclear spin-isomers also owe their separate identities to quantum mechanical principles.
### The paper appearing in the latest edition of PNAS can be viewed online at
www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1210790109
Imprisoned molecules 'quantum rattle' in their cages
2012-08-20
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
HIV home testing kits prove their worth
2012-08-20
Thirty years into the HIV epidemic, many people who are at high risk of HIV infection cannot or will not adopt safer sexual practices, such as abstinence and condom use. This means there is room in the market for alternative methods to reduce either exposure to or transmission of HIV among these individuals. One such strategy, HIV home testing (HT), is the subject of a recent study by Alex Carballo-Dieguez and his colleagues at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at New York. Their work appears online in the journal AIDS and Behavior published by Springer.
A ...
Stanford/Intel study details power of new chip to diagnose disease, analyze protein interactions
2012-08-20
STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Intel Corp. have collaborated to synthesize and study a grid-like array of short pieces of a disease-associated protein on silicon chips normally used in computer microprocessors. They used this chip, which was created through a process used to make semiconductors, to identify patients with a particularly severe form of the autoimmune disease lupus.
Although the new technology is focused on research applications, it has the potential to eventually improve diagnoses of a multitude of diseases, ...
Spirituality correlates to better mental health regardless of religion, say MU researchers
2012-08-20
Despite differences in rituals and beliefs among the world's major religions, spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person's faith, according to University of Missouri researchers. The MU researchers believe that health care providers could take advantage of this correlation between health – particularly mental health – and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate an individual's spiritual inclinations.
"In many ways, the results of our study support the idea that spirituality functions as a personality trait," said ...
American Indian spiritual beliefs influential in spurring youth to avoid drugs and alcohol
2012-08-20
DENVER — New research indicates that urban American Indian youth who follow American Indian traditional spiritual beliefs are less likely to use drugs and alcohol. Arizona State University social scientists will present their findings at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.
The study, "Spirituality and Religion: Intertwined Protective Factors for Substance Use Among Urban American Indian Youth," was recently published in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. The authors are: Stephen Kulis, the study's principal investigator and ...
Couch-potato kids are biggest child health problem in the US, adults say
2012-08-20
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Adults across the U.S. rate not getting enough exercise as the top health concern for children in 2012, according to a new
University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
In the poll's annual top 10 list, a nationwide sample of adults were asked to identify the top 10 biggest health concerns for kids in their communities. For the first time, not enough exercise was rated by most adults at the top of the list (39 percent). That was followed closely by childhood obesity (38 percent) and smoking and tobacco use ...
Anthrax targets
2012-08-20
A trawl of the genome of the deadly bacterium Bacillus anthracis has revealed a clutch of targets for new drugs to combat an epidemic of anthrax or a biological weapons attack. The targets are all proteins that are found in the bacteria but not in humans and are involved in diverse bacterial processes such as metabolism, cell wall synthesis and bacterial persistence. The discovery of a range of targets might bode well for creating a drug cocktail that could preclude the emergence of drug resistance.
Ravi Gutlapalli of the Department of Biotechnology, at Acharya Nagarjuna ...
Ecologist: Genetically engineered algae for biofuel pose potential risks that should be studied
2012-08-20
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Algae are high on the genetic engineering agenda as a potential source for biofuel, and they should be subjected to independent studies of any environmental risks that could be linked to cultivating algae for this purpose, two prominent researchers say.
Writing in the August 2012 issue of the journal BioScience, the researchers argue that ecology experts should be among scientists given independent authority and adequate funding to explore any potential unintended consequences of this technological pursuit.
A critical baseline concern is whether genetically ...
Drink made from berry wine may provide tasty drug for diabetes
2012-08-20
URBANA – In evaluating the bioactive compounds of Illinois blueberry and blackberry wines, University of Illinois scientists have found compounds that inhibit enzymes responsible for carbohydrate absorption and assimilation. And that could mean a tasty way to help people with diabetes decrease their blood sugar.
"We're thinking about a dealcoholized fermented fruit beverage that would optimize the inhibition of the alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes and also make use of the wines' other healthful bioactive components," said Elvira de Mejia, a U of I professor ...
Why do the Caribbean Islands arc?
2012-08-20
The Caribbean islands have been pushed east over the last 50 million years, driven by the movement of the Earth's viscous mantle against the more rooted South American continent, reveals new research by geophysicists from USC.
The results, published today in Nature Geoscience, give us a better understanding of how continents resist the constant movement of the Earth's plates – and what effect the continental plates have on reshaping the surface of the Earth.
"Studying the deep earth interior provides insights into how the Earth has evolved into its present form," said ...
Experiment would test cloud geoengineering as way to slow warming
2012-08-20
Even though it sounds like science fiction, researchers are taking a second look at a controversial idea that uses futuristic ships to shoot salt water high into the sky over the oceans, creating clouds that reflect sunlight and thus counter global warming.
University of Washington atmospheric physicist Rob Wood describes a possible way to run an experiment to test the concept on a small scale in a comprehensive paper published this month in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
The point of the paper -- which includes updates on the latest study ...