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Molecules Spontaneously Form Honycomb

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the just-a-push-in-the-right-direction dept.

Science Daily is reporting that University of California Researchers have discovered a new process in which molecules assemble into complex patterns without any outside guidance. From the article: "Spreading anthraquinone, a common and inexpensive chemical, on to a flat copper surface, Greg Pawin, a chemistry graduate student working in the laboratory of Ludwig Bartels, associate professor of chemistry, observed the spontaneous formation of a two-dimensional honeycomb network comprised of anthraquinone molecules."

11 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. Honeycombs Big? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Honeycombs Big?

    1. Re:Honeycombs Big? by nosredna · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah yeah yeah

    2. Re:Honeycombs Big? by aprilsound · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's not small.

    3. Re:Honeycombs Big? by slapyslapslap · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, no, no!

  2. Re:crystals by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Leave some sodium and chlorine together and let the rest of the solution evaporate and you will spot a cubical arrangement of molecules. This concept is new?

    Yes, it is. The nifty part is the SIZE of the arrangement. If you bothered to read the article, you would notice that the hexagon pattern is in a very unusual size range.

  3. Really cool, but surprising? by QuantumFTL · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is really awesome, however carbon spontaneously forms many different shapes, not the least of which are C60, nanotubes, and graphite (which has a honeycomb shape). As cool as this is, what part of this is "news?"

    1. Re:Really cool, but surprising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      As cool as this is, what part of this is "news?"

      You must have missed this part:

      Anthraquinone molecules, however, form chains that weave themselves into a sheet of hexagons on the copper surface, forming a network similar to chicken wire.

      Obviously this is big news to farmers who raise little tiny chickens.

    2. Re:Really cool, but surprising? by dwhitman · · Score: 4, Insightful
      carbon spontaneously forms many different shapes, not the least of which are C60, nanotubes, and graphite (which has a honeycomb shape). As cool as this is, what part of this is "news?"
      All the examples you give are covalently bonded molecular structures, where the observed regularity is derived from the symmetry of the orbitals forming the bonds.

      What's cool about this (as near as I can tell from the junior high-school level article) is that the structures are supramolecular, many orders of magnitude larger than the anthraquinone molecules they are made of. The structures seems to be held together only by (weak) van der Waals interactions between the molecules, influenced by the copper substrate. This is interesting and unusual, if you know enough chemistry to appreciate it.

      I'd love to see x-ray diffraction of these layers, to see how the anthraquinones are packing, and how the symmetry of the molecules is reflected in the much larger honeycomb.

  4. Re:"Honycomb?" by Linker3000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Almost good enough spelling for Digg.

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  5. Re:Wow by frickendevil · · Score: 4, Funny

    Please tell us the chemical composition of this "water" and what type of "flat surface", and I'm sure we can arrange you with your PhD. Today our PhD's come with some hony. Please enjoy.

  6. Re:Wow by ichigo+2.0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    2 heydrogn atoms and one oxgen

    Send without hony, allergic to pees