Beauty of science: psychedelic crystals

The map can be explained as a repeated pattern or “tiling” of five different kinds of tiles formed from X-shaped molecules and arranged in complex “honeycomb” phases, with different electron densities resulting from different degrees of mixing among side-groups. The work, by researchers at the University of Sheffield in the UK and the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, reveals the remarkable ability of relatively simple molecules to find the optimum solution to the problem of geometric and compositional frustration – namely by forming periodic structures. This, says the team, will expand the capabilities of “bottom-up” methods of nanopatterning for advanced functional materials. (X Zeng et al. 2011 Science 331 1302).

This article originally appeared in ESRFnews, October 2011. 

To register for a free subscription and to rapidly receive the current issue, please go to:
http://www.esrf.fr/UsersAndScience/Publications/Newsletter/esrfnewsdigital