'Box of tricks'
"A miniature cage springs a trap for metals"
(Article Precis, 01/Aug/1998, Issue 2145, p15)
Andy Coghlan reports that a research team at the University of
Illinois have built a hollow molecular cube just 0.51nm wide, with a
volume of only 0.13 cubic nm, which is capable of holding a single
metal ion such as caesium.
Smaller cages have been made in the past, such as cubane (0.16nm
wide), but the new development is the first that can actually hold a
solid entity within, and is also one of the few that is not part of a
powder solid.
Possible applications include molecular detectors, the separation of
mixed solids, and even mopping up unwanted contaminants disolved in a
liquid.
Note: In order to comply with copyright law, I have ommited some
details from the original article. Thus, for a complete insight into
the topic covered here, please either consult your local library for
the issue concerned, purchase the relevant issue from your local
newsagent, or back-order it from the publishers.
Precised by Ian Mapleson, 16/Aug/1998.