Rockin’ out IBM researchers have made a new breakthrough in the study of nanoparticles. Becaus
Rockin’ out IBM researchers have made a new breakthrough in the study of nanoparticles. Because of nanoparticles’ naturally erratic movement and small size (about 1,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair), they’re notoriously difficult to separate and control – and study. IBM researchers created a motor device for sorting, separating and moving nanoparticles without the need for water, which could eventually lead to lab-on-a-chip applications. Using a “rocking” motion and oscillating electrical field across the nano-landscape, the device can more precisely separate nanoparticle populations; a model suggests that it can separate nanoparticles ranging from 5 nanometers (nm) to 100 nm. This technology has major implications in the fields of material science, environmental science and biochemistry, such as potentially helping eradicate drinking water pollutants.Learn more about rocking Brownian motors ->--source link
#research#chemistry#science