Whole new classes of compounds can be created from small clusters of atoms acting like single atoms of another element, researchers demonstrate for the first time in work reported in this week's
This provides a compelling argument for redefining the periodic table of elements, according to Shiv Khanna, professor of physics at Virginia Commonwealth University and co-leader of the study. "We call these superatoms because I would classify [the 13-atom aluminum clusters] in the same position as iodine," Khanna told