Architecture in NanoSpace

Sir Harold Kroto
1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Florida State University

Friday, Feb. 3, 2006
10:30 a.m., Green Auditorium

When molecule C60 and its elongated cousins, the carbon nanotubes, were discovered, it became clear that our understanding of the structural factors and the dynamic behavior of graphite and other sheet materials at the nanometer scale was limited. Studies of these new materials are exhibiting interesting advanced materials behavior. Possible applications range from civil engineering to electronics promising to transform our economics, but if this is to be realized, a paradigm shift in synthetic control strategies will be necessary to create really large molecules with accurately defined structures at the atomic level. This presents one of the greatest technical challenges for 21st. century chemists. From a fundamental research strategy viewpoint it is worth noting that the original C60 discovery experiments were a consequence of earlier molecular spectroscopy/radioastronomy discoveries relating to material in interstellar space and red giant carbon stars, together with the development of techniques for measuring small refractory clusters.