2023-10-05 20:15:51
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the prize in Chemistry to scientists Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov, for discovering and synthesizing “quantum dots”, particles that, due to their tiny dimensions, have properties different from those of objects. larger ones of the same material.
“They are nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties and now they diffuse their light from television screens and LED lamps. They catalyze chemical reactions and their clear light can illuminate tumor tissue for a surgeon,” reads the text that accompanied the announcement of the winners.
“These quantum dots are solid particles but, precisely because of their size, they have properties that are not present at larger sizes. We are talking about phenomena that had been predicted by the theory of quantum mechanics, but that had not been demonstrated in practice, until before these researchers,” Paula Angelomé, CONICET researcher based in the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Argentina.
Size, obviously, matters: as Angelomé explains, in traditional materials, regardless of whether they are normal or very large dimensions, the color and the light it reflects are always the same, it does not change in each material.
From left to right: Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov. (Photo: Niklas Elmehed / © Nobel Prize Outreach)
“On the other hand, when we talk at a nanoscale, in a very tiny size, both the color and the light it absorbs or emits change, in addition to other characteristics, because the electrons are arranged differently,” says the researcher, an expert in nanocomposite materials. based on nanoparticles. (Source: Nicolás Camargo Lescano (CTyS-UNLaM Agency))
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