Using UV light to break down self-assembling molecules into co-assembling fragments.

Molecules 1 and 2 can self-assemble separately into nanostructures. The exposure to UV light will disrupt these nanostructures by splitting 1 into shorter fragments 3 and 4, and splitting 2 into 4 and 5. The new mixture of shorter fragments can spontaneously recombine into novel shapes.
Date:
19 May 2017
Copyright OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 沖縄科学技術大学院大学). Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
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Research