Nanoreactor

Nanoreactors are a form of chemical reactor that are particularly in the disciplines of nanotechnology and nanobiotechnology. These special reactors are crucial in maintaining a working nanofoundry; which is essentially a foundry that manufactures products on a nanotechnological scale.

Researchers in the Netherlands have succeeded in building nanoreactors that can perform one-pot multistep reactions - the next step towards artificial cell-like devices in addition for applications involving the screening and diagnosis of a disease or illness. A biochemical nanoreactor is created simply by unwrapping a biological virus through scientific methods, eliminating its harmful contents, and re-assembling its protein coat around a single molecule of enzyme. The kinetic isotope effect is trapped in a single molecule within a membrane-based nanoreactor. This is a phenomenon that has been found by researchers in the United Kingdom during experiments done on September 2010. The kinetic isotope effect, where the rate of a reaction is influenced by the presence of an isotopic atom in solution, is an important principle for elucidating reaction mechanisms. This recent finding could open up new methods to study chemical reactions. They may even aid in the process of creating new (and even more powerful) nanoreactors.

Using nanocrystals, a scalable and inexpensive process can ultimately create nanoreactors. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley have the ability to take advantage of the large difference in select components to create these nanocrystals and nanoreactors. Nanocrystals are easier to use and less expensive than methods that employ sacrificial templates in the creation process of hollow particles. Catalyst particles are separated into shells in order to prevent particle aggregation. Selective entry into the catalysis chamber reduces the likelihood of desired products undergoing secondary reactions.

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