Accession Number:
ADA459808
Title:
Building from the Bottom Up
Descriptive Note:
Journal article
Corporate Author:
MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING CENTER
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
2003-05-01
Pagination or Media Count:
9.0
Abstract:
Designed materials and new tools hold the key for future science and technologies. Building materials from the bottom up is complementary to traditional top-down materials processing, but requires a deep understanding of the individual molecular structures, their assemblies, and dynamic behaviors. This approach, using molecular self-assembly as a fabrication tool, will become an integral part of materials production, especially nanomaterials, in the coming years. Two key elements in molecular self-assembly are chemical complementarity and structural compatibility through weak and noncovalent interactions. We have defined the path to understand these principles. The self-assembly systems represent a significant advance in the molecular engineering of advanced materials and nanomaterials. Nature is a grand master who builds materials from the bottom up, one atom or molecule at a time. These materials include inorganic minerals, crystals, clays, inorganicorganic composite seashells, pearls, bone and teeth, wood, silk, horn, collagen, and extracellular matrices. The sophistication of natures bottom-up fabrication and construction has inspired us to learn, in order to go beyond natures materials.
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Biochemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Miscellaneous Materials
- Atomic and Molecular Physics and Spectroscopy