MSGID: 1:317/3 6482aaf7   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Breakthrough: Scientists develop artificial molecules that behave like   
   real ones    
      
     Date:   
         June 8, 2023   
     Source:   
         Radboud University Nijmegen   
     Summary:   
         Scientists have developed synthetic molecules that resemble real   
         organic molecules. A collaboration of researcher can now simulate   
         the behavior of real molecules by using artificial molecules.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Scientists from the Radboud University have developed synthetic molecules   
   that resemble real organic molecules. A collaboration of researchers, led   
   by Alex Khajetoorians and Daniel Wegner, can now simulate the behaviour   
   of real molecules by using artificial molecules. In this way, they can   
   tweak properties of molecules in ways that are normally difficult or   
   unrealistic, and they can understand much better how molecules change.   
      
   Emil Sierda, who was in charge of conducting the experiments at   
   Radboud University: 'A few years ago we had this crazy idea to build   
   a quantum simulator. We wanted to create artificial molecules that   
   resembled real molecules. So we developed a system in which we can trap   
   electrons. Electrons surround a molecule like a cloud, and we used those   
   trapped electrons to build an artificial molecule.' The results the team   
   found were astonishing. Sierda: 'The resemblance between what we built   
   and real molecules was uncanny.'  Changing molecules Alex Khajetoorians,   
   head of the Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) department at the Institute   
   for Molecules and Materials of Radboud University: 'Making molecules is   
   difficult enough. What is often harder, is to understand how certain   
   molecules react, for example how they change when they are twisted or   
   altered.' How molecules change and react is the basis of chemistry, and   
   leads to chemical reactions, like the formation of water from hydrogen   
   and oxygen.   
      
   'We wanted to simulate molecules, so we could have the ultimate toolkit   
   to bend them and tune them in ways that are nearly impossible with   
   real molecules. In that way we can say something about real molecules,   
   without making them, or without having to deal with the challenges they   
   present, like their constantly changing shape.'  Benzene Using this   
   simulator, the researchers created an artificial version of one of the   
   basic organic molecules in chemistry: benzene. Benzene is the starting   
   component for a vast amount of chemicals, like styrene, which is used   
   to make polystyrene. Khajetoorians: 'By making benzene, we simulated   
   a textbook organic molecule, and built a molecule that is made up of   
   elements that are not organic.' Above that: the molecules are 10 times   
   bigger than their real counterparts, which makes them easier to work with.   
      
   Practical uses The uses of this new technique are endless. Daniel Wegner,   
   assistant professor within the SPM department: 'We have only begun   
   to imagine what we can use this for. We have so many ideas that it is   
   hard to decide where to start.' By using the simulator, scientists can   
   understand molecules and their reactions much better, which will help   
   in every scientific field imaginable. Wegner: 'New materials for future   
   computer hardware are really hard to make, for instance.   
      
   By making a simulated version, we can look for the novel properties and   
   functionalities of certain molecules and evaluate whether it will be   
   worth making the real material.' In the far future, all kinds of things   
   may be possible: understanding chemical reactions step by step like in   
   a slow-motion video, or making artificial single-molecule electronic   
   devices, like shrinking the size of a transistor on a computer   
   chip. Quantum simulators are even suggested to perform as quantum   
   computers. Sierda: 'But that's a long way to go, for now we can start   
   by beginning to understand molecules in a way we never understood before.'   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
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                   # Organic_Chemistry # Chemistry # Nature_of_Water   
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                   # Virtual_Environment # Spintronics #   
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Radboud_University_Nijmegen. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. E. Sierda, X. Huang, D. I. Badrtdinov, B. Kiraly, E. J. Knol, G. C.   
      
         Groenenboom, M. I. Katsnelson, M. Ro"sner, D. Wegner, A. A.   
      
         Khajetoorians. Quantum simulator to emulate lower-dimensional   
         molecular structure. Science, 2023; 380 (6649): 1048 DOI:   
         10.1126/science.adf2685   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608195633.htm   
      
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