2023-09-03 22:10:00
A discovery in the field of nanofluidics might revolutionize our understanding of molecular behavior at the nanoscale. research teams from theEPFL and of theUniversity of Manchester revealed a previously hidden world using the newly discovered fluorescent properties of a two-dimensional graphene-like material, boron nitride.
This innovative approach allows scientists to track individual molecules within nanofluidic structures, revealing their behavior in new ways. The results of the study are published in the journal Nature Materials.
An unexpected fluorescence of boron nitride
The nanofluidics, the study of fluids confined in ultra-small spaces, offers insight into the behavior of liquids at the nanoscale. However, exploring the movement of individual molecules in such confined environments has been difficult due to the limitations of conventional microscopy techniques. This obstacle prevented real-time detection and imaging, leaving important gaps in our knowledge of molecular properties in confinement.
Thanks to an unexpected property of boron nitride, EPFL researchers have achieved what was once considered impossible. This two-dimensional material has a remarkable ability to emit light when in contact with liquids. By taking advantage of this property, scientists at EPFL’s Nanometric Biology Laboratory have succeeded in directly observing and tracing the trajectories of individual molecules within nanofluidic structures.
This revelation opens the way to a deeper understanding of the behaviors of ions and molecules under conditions that mimic biological systems.
Molecule-by-molecule monitoring
Professor Aleksandra Radenovic, Head of LBEN, explains: “ Advances in manufacturing and materials science have allowed us to control ion and fluid transport at the nanoscale. Yet our understanding of nanofluidic systems remained limited, as conventional optical microscopy might not penetrate structures below the diffraction limit. Our research is now shedding light on nanofluidics, offering insight into a field that was largely unexplored until now. »
This new understanding of molecular properties has exciting applications, including the ability to directly image emerging nanofluidic systems, where liquids exhibit unconventional behaviors under pressure or electrical stimuli. The core of the research lies in the fluorescence from single photon emitters on the surface of the hexagonal boron nitride.
« This fluorescence activation came unexpectedly, as neither the hBN nor the liquid exhibit fluorescence in the visible spectrum on their own. It most likely originates from molecules interacting with surface defects on the crystal, but we are still unsure of the exact mechanism. “, explains Nathan Ronceray, doctoral student at LBEN.
Promising applications
Professor Radha Boya of Manchester’s Department of Physics designed the nano-channels from two-dimensional materials, confining liquids to just a few nanometers from the surface of the hBN. This partnership made it possible to optically probe these systems, revealing clues of a confinement-induced liquid order.
« Seeing is believing, but it is not easy to see the effects of containment on this scale. We fabricate these extremely thin slit-like channels, and the current study shows an elegant way to visualize them using super-resolution microscopy. says Radha Boya.
The potential of this discovery is very important. Nathan Ronceray envisions applications beyond simple passive detection. ” We have mainly observed the behavior of molecules with hBN without actively interacting with it, but we believe that it might be used to visualize nanoscale flows caused by pressure or electric fields. »
This might lead to more dynamic applications in the future for optical imaging and sensing, providing unprecedented insight into the complex behaviors of molecules in these confined spaces.
Synthetic
This landmark discovery in the field of nanofluidics opens new perspectives for understanding the behavior of molecules at the nanometric scale. Thanks to the unexpected fluorescence properties of boron nitride, it is now possible to follow individual molecules in nano-channels, revealing their trajectories and interactions. This advance allows us to imagine promising future applications in imaging and optical detection at the nanometric scale.
For a better understanding
What property of boron nitride enabled this breakthrough?
Boron nitride unexpectedly possesses the ability to emit light when in contact with liquids confined in nano-channels.
This fluorescence makes it possible to optically mark and follow individual molecules, revealing their trajectories in the nanofluidic space.
What does this bring compared to previous techniques?
Conventional microscopy techniques did not allow imaging at these sub-nanometric scales. This advance thus opens up a new field of study.
What applications are envisaged?
This paves the way for new imaging and optical sensing techniques at the nanometer scale to study confined fluids.
What phenomena can now be observed?
One can observe the trajectories of individual molecules, their interactions, as well as the effects of confinement of liquids at the nanometric scale.
What challenges remain?
It is still necessary to precisely understand the origin of the fluorescence and to develop techniques for active interaction with the traced molecules.
Main illustration caption: A look at how new research unravels the mystery of molecular motion in confined nanometer spaces. – Credit: Titouan Veuillet / EPFL
References : Ronceray, N., You, Y., Glushkov, E., Lihter, M., Rehl, B., Chen, T.-H., Nam, G.-H., Borza, F., Watanabe, K., Taniguchi, T., Roke, S., Keerthi, A., Comtet, J., Radha, B., & Radenovic, A. (2023). Liquid-activated quantum emission from pristine hexagonal boron nitride for nanofluidic sensing. Nature Materials. DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01658-2
Article adapted from the content of the author: Michael David Mitchell
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