2007 New England Section of the APS and AAPT Joint Fall Meeting
Volume 52, Number 17
Friday–Saturday, October 19–20, 2007;
Storrs, Connecticut
Session D1: Keynote Banquet Address
6:30 PM–8:30 PM,
Friday, October 19, 2007
Student Union
Room: Ballroom
Chair: Joseph Budnick, University of Connecticut
Abstract ID: BAPS.2007.NEF.D1.2
Abstract: D1.00002 : Architecture in NanoSpace
7:30 PM–8:30 PM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Harold Kroto
(The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Florida State University)
As Chemistry and Physics at one borderline and Chemistry and
Biology at the other begin to become indistinguishable,
multidisciplinary research is leading to the fascinating ``new''
overarching field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (N\&N - not
to be confused with M\&M). Ingenious strategies for the creation
of molecules with complex exactly-specified structures as well as
function are being developed - basically molecules that ``do
things'' are now being made. In fact N\&N is not new at all but
may be considered to be the ``Frontier Chemistry of the 21$^{st}$
Century.'' When the molecule C$_{60}$ Buckminsterfullerene and
its elongated cousins the carbon nanotubes or Buckytubes were
discovered, it suddenly became clear that our understanding of
many factors governing the atomic structure of carbon and other
materials was quite na\"ive - especially with regard to what
happens at nanometer scale dimensions. New experimental
approaches which focused on how atoms cluster together have led
to the production of novel nanostructures and a general
refocusing of research interests on controlling self-assembly
process, i.e. the so-called bottom-up approach. This new
approach is leading to novel advanced materials with new
applications. Fascinating fundamental insights into formation
mechanisms have been revealed and nanoscale devices, which
parallel devices in standard engineering are now being created.
On the horizon are possible applications ranging from civil
engineering to advanced molecular electronics which promise to
transform our economics. These fundamental advances suggest that
supercomputers in our pockets (as well as our heads) and
buildings which can easily withstand powerful hurricanes and
earthquakes are possible. However, if these breakthroughs are to
be realised in practice a paradigm shift in synthetic chemical
techniques will be necessary so we can create at will really
large molecules with accurately defined structures at the atomic
level. Some of the material from the Vega Science Trust website
(www.vega.org.uk) which makes TV and Internet programmes to
improve public awareness and understanding of science and
engineering (PAUSE), will be used to illustrate some of the
issues. This presents one of the greatest technical challenges
for chemists. Directors of research might also ponder the fact
that the C$_{60}$ molecule, which is almost exactly one nanometer
(10$^{-9}$m) in diameter, was discovered during an experiment
aimed at understanding our earlier radioastronomy results which
had uncovered puzzling facts about the molecular constituents of
dusty interstellar clouds which are up to 100 light years in size
- indeed some 10$^{28}$ or a thousand million million million
million times larger than C$_{60}$!
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2007.NEF.D1.2