The chemist supported the development of nanotechnology

Dr Richard E.Smalley of Rice University died in the United States, aged 62. He is a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering a new, spherical, and strongly supportive form of nanotechnology in building a more sustainable economy.

Dr Smalley died of blood cancer

Dr Smalley used his reputation as a tool to call for more investment in the education career of a new generation of scientists and engineers.

When attending conferences and meeting business people, he often talks about how nanotechnology can transform the economy as well as address energy and environmental challenges. Robert Gower, who with Dr. Smalley founded Carbon Nanotechnologies - a company that commercialized Smalley's discoveries, remarked: "He is like a rock star in the tech world."

Smalley's breakthrough in science stems from Dr. Kroto's efforts. Dr. Koto went to Smalley's lab at Rice University in 1985 to conduct laser-based graphite evaporation experiments to understand the structure of carbon-rich stars. When these two scientists and some other experts analyzed the results, they encountered a large number of extremely stable carbon molecules with 60 atoms. They were confused about this shape until Dr. Smalley built paper models in the kitchen and discovered that the molecules had to be arranged like a soccer-like mixture of 12 five-sided shapes and 20 hexagonal images.

This new molecule, the most perfectly spherical molecule that humans have ever discovered, is called buckyballs. The emergence of a new form of carbon in a world that previously only knew graphite and diamond stimulated chemists and created a worldwide race to understand its characteristics. Buckyball captures material scientists because of their lubricating potential. Because of their round shape, they easily glide through other materials and they are likely to be used to make chemical containers or transports.

Buckyballs are a group of fullerenes - spherical molecules, made up of groups of five-sided or six-sided atoms. Depending on the structure, fullerenes reveal many new properties in chemistry, electricity and strength Over time, researchers at NEC, Japan, discovered nanotubes in 1991. And nanotubes emerged. as a more promising form of fullerene for most commercial applications. However, many researchers consider modern nanotechnology to start at the time of buckyball discovery. Because of these discoveries, Dr. Kroto, Curl and Smalley accepted the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The term nanotechnology is derived from nanometers - 1 part per billion of 1m and is the size of a small molecule. Since the discovery of buckyballs, researchers have also discovered that not only carbon, but many other materials are also strange, potentially valuable, when formed at sizes below 100 nanometers. Dr Smalley was particularly interested in the possibility that nanocarbon tubes could one day be woven with electrical wires, making the wire lighter, more durable and more efficient than it is today. He also sees nanotechnology as the key to producing other solar and renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels.

Minh Son ( According to New York Times, Reuters, AP )