Pushing the boundaries of 2-D supramolecules

Scientists at the University of South Florida have reached a new milestone in the development of two-dimensional supramolecules, the building blocks that make the areas of nanotechnology and advancement of nanomaterials possible.

Since the discovery in 2004 of graphene, the thinnest (thickness of an atom) and strongest (200 times stronger than steel) material in the world, researchers have been working to develop similar nanomaterials for industrial, pharmaceutical, and other uses. commercial. Thanks to its conductive properties and strength, graphene can be used in microelectronics to fortify mechanical materials and has recently enabled accurate 3D images of nanoparticles to be obtained.

While work to develop new supramolecules capable of additional applications has been somewhat successful, those molecular formations are small (less than 10 nanometers in size) or arbitrarily assembled, limiting their potential use. But now, new research published in Chemistry of nature, describes a deep leap forward in supramolecular progress.

“Our research team has been able to overcome one of the main supramolecular obstacles, developing a well-defined supramolecular structure that pushes the 20-nanometer scale,” said Xiaopeng Li, an associate professor in the USF Department of Chemistry and principal investigator of the study. . “It is essentially a world record for this area of ​​chemistry.”

Li, along with his USF research team, collaborated with Saw Wai Hia’s team at Argonne National Laboratory and Ohio University, as well as with several other American and international research institutes in this effort.

Supramolecules are large molecular structures made up of individual molecules. Unlike traditional chemistry, which focuses on covalent bonds between atoms, supramolecular chemistry studies the non-covalent interactions between the molecules themselves. Often times, these interactions lead to molecular self-assembly, naturally forming complex structures capable of performing a variety of functions.

In this latest study, the team was able to build a 20nm wide metallo-supramolecular hexagonal grid combining intra and intermolecular self-assembly processes. Li says that the success of this work will advance the understanding of the design principles that govern these molecular formations and that one day it could lead to the development of new materials with functions and properties yet to be discovered.