Posted on 03/26/2013 1:17:40 AM PDT by neverdem
Nanocrystals slither through tiny tubes
Nothing can squeeze through tight spaces quite like a nanocrystal. Physicists watched a small iron crystal slide through a tube with an opening less than half the diameter of the crystal itself. The finding could lead to remotely controlled nanomachines that navigate through confined quarters.
Using an electric field, the researchers drove an iron crystal 12 nanometers in diameter through a carbon nanotube like a train in a tunnel. The surprise came when the tube constricted to 5 nanometers in diameter: The iron nanocrystal altered its shape and squeezed through. Microscope images showed that the iron remained a crystalline solid...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
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That iron crystal took a fantastic voyage.
I’m surprised the physicists on FR aren’t all over this one.
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