Inside The Nanoworld
Posted on December 11th, 2008 in General + Irish Science + Science People
The scientists at UCD’s Nanoscale Function Group have access to six world-class atomic force microscopes (AFMs), incredibly powerful microscopes capable of imaging objects as small as single atoms. (For more background on AFMs, read this recent post and check out this online AFM tutorial.)
Every day these scientists see stunning images of our world on the nanoscale, where the surfaces of tiny pieces of metal look like huge mountain ranges and the detail in biological components just a few atoms thick can be seen.
Let’s take a look at some recent images from the UCD lab.
This image of the residue left behind by ivy glue shows an area just 25 micrometers x 25 micrometers in size. A micrometer is one millionth of a metre.
Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Tennessee used an AFM to reveal that ivy plants secrete a glue that contains uniform nanoparticles 70 nanometres across to achieve their incredible gripping abilities. The team is currently investigating what makes the nanoparticles stick to surfaces and hope to develop a paint that can protect walls from damage by climbing ivy.
Lipid bilayers are composed of two layers of fat cells organised in sheets. At just 5 nanometers (nm) thick, these minute structures form a layer that allow only water and gases to pass through cell membranes. This image shows the surface of a lipid bilayer that’s 5 nm x 5nm in size. A nanometre is one biollionth of a metre, approximately the size of a single carbon nanotube.
Dr. Khizar Sheikh, a Senior Research Fellow in UCD is using AFM technology to study lipid bilayers. “This is the only instrument that can look at lipid bilayers in their natural environment,” says Sheikh.
See more incredible AFM images after the turn.
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