Transporting Energy Through A Single Molecular Nanowire
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Plants and photosynthetic bacteria catch sunlight via molecular antennas, which then transfer the energy to a reaction centre with minimal losses. Scientists would like to make molecular wires that can transfer energy just as efficiently. Scientists at the University of Groningen created tiny fibers by stacking certain molecules together. Single fibers transport energy, although they sometimes malfunction. Creating bundles of fibers (as is done with copper wiring) was thought to be the solution but this turned out not to be the case. Energy moves fast when spread out across several molecules. In single fibers, this works well but in bundled fibers, this spreading out is hampered as the molecules experience strain. These results can be used to better understand energy transport along molecular wires, which will help in the design of better wires.
More information: Bernd Wittmann et al, Enhancing Long-Range Energy Transport in Supramolecular Architectures by Tailoring Coherence Properties, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2020). DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c01392
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