Surfaces help quantum switches

The quantum dynamics of hydrogen are central to many problems in nature, being strongly influenced by the environment in which a reaction takes place. In their contribution to PRL, members of the Lise Meitner Group at the ...

Molecular swarm rearranges surface structures atom by atom

The surface of metals plays a key role in many technologically relevant areas, such as catalysis, sensor technology and battery research. For example, the large-scale production of many chemical compounds takes place on metal ...

The key to lowering carbon dioxide emissions is made of metal

Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are rising and our planet is heating up. What do we do? What if we used this excess CO2 as a raw material to produce things we need—similar to how plants use it to produce oxygen.

Splitting water molecules for a renewable energy future

The future economy based on renewable and sustainable energy sources might utilize battery-powered cars, large-scale solar and wind farms, and energy reserves stored in batteries and chemical fuels. Although there are examples ...

Autonomous robot plays with NanoLEGO

Molecules are the building blocks of everyday life. Many materials are composed of them, a little like a LEGO model consists of a multitude of different bricks. But while individual LEGO bricks can be simply shifted or removed, ...

Scientists perfect knot-tying techniques with molecular string

A group of chemists from Manchester have successfully tied a series of microscopic knots using individual molecules for the first time, ushering in the advent of a form of nano-scale weaving which could create a new generation ...

Programmable synthetic materials

Artificial molecules could one day form the information unit of a new type of computer or be the basis for programmable substances. The information would be encoded in the spatial arrangement of the individual atoms—similar ...

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