Science never stops surprising us when we least expect it, and here comes another one of its surprises: a team of researchers from Switzerland has turned everything we thought we knew about molecular geometry and self-organization upside down.
Apparently, something that began as an experiment they called routine has ended up revealing something completely unexpected for everyone: a new molecular organization pattern. Let us explain: scientists expected the molecules to align in a predictable way (as occurs in most materials) but these molecules created a chaotic-looking design but with certain patterns, something that had been trying to be demonstrated for years with the so-called “Einstein problem.”
What is the Einstein problem?
Despite its name, this concept has nothing to do with Albert Einstein!! Rather, the term comes from the German “ein Stein”, which means “a stone” (because they refer to the search for a unique shape capable of covering a plane without generating a repetitive pattern).
For many years, mathematicians believed that this was practically impossible, until last year, 2022, when they discovered a figure called “a hat” (never seen before, of course). But the most interesting thing about this Discovery
But the most interesting thing about this discovery was that the molecules in the experiment behaved in the same way as the mathematical theory predicted at first, with irregular patterns that were not repeated.
Why is this unexpected behavior of the molecules?
The team of scientists led by chemist Karl-Heinz Ernst used a molecule called tris(tetrahelicenebenzene) or t[4]HB, expecting it to form ordered and symmetrical structures on a silver surface. But everyone was surprised: instead of following a uniform pattern, the molecules were organized in triangles of different sizes and irregular spirals.
What was the reason for this change?
This phenomenon is due to a key property: chirality. In chemistry, a molecule is chiral when it has two versions that are mirror images of each other (like our right and left hands, for example). The ability of these molecules to freely change their chirality made their arrangement unpredictable, and best of all, each time the scientists repeated the experiment, the patterns were different, but they all followed the same aperiodic logic.
An order in its own disorder
Yes, because although it may seem that the arrangement of the molecules is random, in reality they are following a fundamental physical principle called entropy: the most stable structures are the most ordered, but, in this case, the disorder allowed the molecules to pack themselves in a more “efficient” way in order to optimize their distribution without having to repeat themselves.
What could this discovery be useful for?
Well, it could be used primarily in electronics and optics, since electrons can be manipulated in a different way. Who knows if we will see modifications in quantum computing thanks to this?
While there is still much to be investigated, this discovery could forever change the way we design our materials and structures at the atomic level – who knows how many radical twists we have yet to see in chemistry and physics?!