Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech ) have developed a new technique, using a sheet of carbon just one atom thick, to visualize the structure of molecules.
The technique, which was used to obtain the first direct images of how the water covers the surface at room temperature can also be used to create the image of a potentially unlimited number of other molecules, including antibodies and other biomolecules.
“Nearly all surfaces have a layer of water on them, “says James Heath, professor of chemistry at Caltech, ” and that water dominates interfacial properties “- properties that affect the wear and tear on that surface. While the water surface coatings are ubiquitous, they are also very hard to study because the water molecules are ” constantly changing and do not remain still long enough to enable measurements, “he says.
By accident, Heath and his colleagues developed a technique to specify the moving molecules in ambient conditions. A fortunate accident, whereas if the data in a single molecule could reveal the gross structure, the data revealed 10 features the finest – and computationally assembling the 1000 data identical molecules can reveal atomic every nook and cranny.
