News Materials Science

Novel nanotubes are now made-to-order

By Jessica Gorman

- More than 2 years ago

By designing self-assembling parts, researchers have discovered how to make nanotubes with specific sizes and traits.

Newly designed nanotube (left) has rosette cross-section (right). Fenniri et al./Purdue

Hicham Fenniri and his team at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., constructed unique molecules as building blocks for nanotubes. Each 1-nanometer molecule contains carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms arranged to resemble the DNA base guanine on one edge of the molecule and cytosine on the other.