AtomicForceMicroscope
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Microscope can scan chemical processes in real-time
Atomic force microscopes are the tool of choice to see the tiniest atomic structures, right down to hydrogen bonds. The drawback with current models is that they're too slow to create anything but static images, making them useless for processes like chemical reactions. However, MIT researchers have created a prototype model that's 2,000 times faster than any commercial product, making it feasible for video (below). "People can see, for example, condensation, nucleation, dissolution or deposition of material in real-time -- things [they've] never seen before," says MIT professor Kamal Youcef-Toumi.
Scientists capture images of molecules forming atomic bonds
For most of us, molecular bonding only really exists as a classroom concept. Some scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory can now claim more tangible knowledge, however: they're the first to have taken truly clear snapshots of bonding in progress. While trying to create graphene nanostructures and observe them with an atomic force microscope, a lab team spotted molecules forming their individual, atom-level links during a chemical reaction. The resulting shots were nearly textbook material, too -- as the molecules were neatly placed on a flat surface, the researchers identified the order and nature of each bond. While the images will only be immediately useful for the nanostructure research at hand, they may add a welcome dash of reality to future chemistry lessons.
IBM scientists study deep-sea mud juice with atomic force microscope, find orchid juice (video)
The discovery of novel chemical compounds is a huge part of modern pharmaceutical research. The problem is, there aren't too many novel places left on the globe left to look. One of the least studied is at the deepest place on Earth, the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and that's just where researchers at the University of Aberdeen found some mud to play with. However, they weren't able to accurately identify the compounds found in the pile of trench goop they were analyzing. A call to scientists at IBM Zurich resulted in an opportunity to play with their atomic force microscope, a device that uses a tiny probe with a tip that actually "feels" the surface of whatever you're looking at. With this the team was able to determine the nature of the compounds being generated by bacteria in the mud: cephalandole A, also generated by the Taiwanese orchid Cephalanceropsis gracilis. Now, instead of getting your significant other a beautiful orchid for some special occasion you can fill a vase with mud and romantically explain how they both generate the same basic compounds. [Thanks, Chris]
Atomic force microscope takes a closer look at individual atoms
Hot on the heels of Purdue's Mini 10 chemical analyzer comes a (somewhat) similar creature from the other side of the globe, as Osaka University's Yoshiaki Sugimoto and colleagues have "found a way to use the atomic force microscope to produce images that reveal the chemical identity of individual atoms on a surface." Essentially, this new discovery allows scientists to look at a mixed material and "pick out individual atoms of different elements on its surface, such as tin or silicon." The microscopes themselves are quite common in this realm, but until now, they have not been capable of distinguishing between atoms of different chemical elements. The atomic fingerprint, as it's so aptly named, is what the crew scrutinized in order to distinguish between varying atoms on a sample surface, as they witnessed that the relationship between force and distance is "slightly different for atoms of different elements." Of course, we have to look for the practical use in all this hubbub, and a non-participating scientist from the UK has insinuated that the discovery could be useful for nanotechnology researchers trying to design devices at the molecular level -- and who wouldn't be down a little nanotech garb or a snazzy new water-repelling umbrella?
