Cargando…
Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation
The drive towards organic computing is gaining momentum. Interestingly, the building blocks for such architectures is based on molecular ensembles extending from nucleic acids to synthetic molecules. Advancement in this direction requires devising precise nanoscopic experiments and model calculation...
Autores principales: | , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Nature Publishing Group
2015
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4650799/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25960364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep10116 |
_version_ | 1782401558859743232 |
---|---|
author | Nirmalraj, Peter N. Thompson, Damien Riel, Heike E. |
author_facet | Nirmalraj, Peter N. Thompson, Damien Riel, Heike E. |
author_sort | Nirmalraj, Peter N. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The drive towards organic computing is gaining momentum. Interestingly, the building blocks for such architectures is based on molecular ensembles extending from nucleic acids to synthetic molecules. Advancement in this direction requires devising precise nanoscopic experiments and model calculations to decipher the mechanisms governing the integration of a large number of molecules over time at room-temperature. Here, we report on ultrahigh-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopic measurements to register the motion of molecules in the absence of external stimulus in liquid medium. We observe the collective behavior of individual molecules within a swarm which constantly iterate their position to attain an energetically favourable site. Our approach provides a consistent pathway to register molecular self-assembly in sequential steps from visualising thermodynamically driven repair of defects up until the formation of a stable two-dimensional configuration. These elemental findings on molecular surface dynamics, self-repair and intermolecular kinetic pathways rationalised by atom-scale simulations can be explored for developing new models in algorithmic self-assembly to realisation of evolvable hardware. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4650799 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-46507992015-11-24 Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation Nirmalraj, Peter N. Thompson, Damien Riel, Heike E. Sci Rep Article The drive towards organic computing is gaining momentum. Interestingly, the building blocks for such architectures is based on molecular ensembles extending from nucleic acids to synthetic molecules. Advancement in this direction requires devising precise nanoscopic experiments and model calculations to decipher the mechanisms governing the integration of a large number of molecules over time at room-temperature. Here, we report on ultrahigh-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopic measurements to register the motion of molecules in the absence of external stimulus in liquid medium. We observe the collective behavior of individual molecules within a swarm which constantly iterate their position to attain an energetically favourable site. Our approach provides a consistent pathway to register molecular self-assembly in sequential steps from visualising thermodynamically driven repair of defects up until the formation of a stable two-dimensional configuration. These elemental findings on molecular surface dynamics, self-repair and intermolecular kinetic pathways rationalised by atom-scale simulations can be explored for developing new models in algorithmic self-assembly to realisation of evolvable hardware. Nature Publishing Group 2015-05-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4650799/ /pubmed/25960364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep10116 Text en Copyright © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
spellingShingle | Article Nirmalraj, Peter N. Thompson, Damien Riel, Heike E. Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
title | Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
title_full | Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
title_fullStr | Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
title_full_unstemmed | Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
title_short | Capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
title_sort | capturing the embryonic stages of self-assembly - design rules for molecular computation |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4650799/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25960364 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep10116 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT nirmalrajpetern capturingtheembryonicstagesofselfassemblydesignrulesformolecularcomputation AT thompsondamien capturingtheembryonicstagesofselfassemblydesignrulesformolecularcomputation AT rielheikee capturingtheembryonicstagesofselfassemblydesignrulesformolecularcomputation |