Researchers Develop Molecular Polyhedron

Researchers from the Department of Chemistry in the New York University along with the Department of Materials Science in the University of Milan and the Molecular Design Institute have jointly created a molecular polyhedron, which has the potential to influence both consumer and industrial products such as optical and magnetic materials. Their work has been reported in the Science journal’s latest issue.

The researchers have tried without success for long to coerce or force molecules to form polyhedra, which are three-dimesional objects where each face or side is a polygon. The 13 Archimedean solids discovered by Archimedes have been attracting great attention as synthesis of such structures from molecules is a highly challenging exercise. The research work carried out by the NYU scientists along with their other team members includes the creation of a quasi-truncated octahedron, which is also one of the Archimedean solids. The structure could also function as a cage-like framework for capturing other molecular species and thus acting as building blocks for improved and newer materials.

Michael Ward, who is the Chair of the Department of Chemistry in the NYU and also one of the co-authors of the study, has revealed that they have shown how to force the molecules into a polyhedron and after that their next step would be to make other polyhedra by making use of similar design principles. All this would lead to the creation of new materials having unusual properties.