Dr. Saw-Wai Hla at a Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Science Daily featured work by Dr. Saw-Wai Hla and others in an article headlined “Pushing the limits of 2D supramolecules.”
Since the 2004 discovery of graphene, the world’s thinnest (one-atom-thick) and strongest (200 times stronger than steel) material, researchers have been working to further develop similar nanomaterials for industrial, pharmaceutical and other commercial uses. Thanks to its conductive properties and strength, graphene can be used in microelectronics to fortify mechanical materials and has recently enabled precise 3D imaging of nanoparticles.
While work to develop new supramolecules capable of further applications has seen some success, those molecular formations are either small — less than 10 nanometers in size — or arbitrarily assemble, limiting their potential use. But now, new research published in Nature Chemistry, outlines a profound leap forward in supramolecular progress.
“Our research team has been able to overcome one of the major 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 the study’s lead researcher. “It’s essentially a world record for this area of chemistry.”
Li, along with his USF research team, collaborated with Saw Wai Hia’s team at the Argonne National Laboratory and Ohio University, as well as several other U.S. and international research institutes on this effort….
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