The device: Flexible self-assembled nanotubes have arrived. Researchers at Seoul National University used crimped macromolecules that are hydrophobic on one side and hydrophilic on the other to create rings that, in aqueous solution, stack of their own accord, creating nanotubules that expand and contract in response to changing temperature. They published their technique today (September 20) in Science.
Although the molecules fit together easily, they’re not connected by covalent bonds, “which endows the rings with flexible diameter through sliding motion between the molecules,” lead author Myongsoo Lee explained in an email. Lee and his team could prompt this behavior by adjusting the temperature, causing the nanotubule interiors to fluctuate in size by 3 to 4 nanometers. The nanotubes expanded as temperatures dropped and contracted as their environment heated, creating a temperature-dependent response “similar to a pulsating blood vessel,” explained Lee.
The hollow nature of the nanotubules also has potential benefits. ...
