The tip of an atomic force microscope on a cantilevered arm is used to pull a graphene nanoribbon the same way it would be used to pull apart a protein or a strand of DNA in a Rice University lab. The microscope can be used to measure properties like rigidity in a material as it’s manipulated by the tip. Courtesy of the Kiang Research Group
Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) bend and twist easily in solution, making them adaptable for biological uses like DNA analysis, drug delivery and biomimetic applications, according to scientists at Rice University. GNR’s can be thousands of times longer than they are wide. They can be produced in bulk by chemically “unzipping” carbon nanotubes, a process invented by Rice chemist and co-author James Tour and his lab.
Their size means they can operate on th...
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