RESEARCH
Top Chemical Research in the Czech Republic Czech Chemistry, this is not just a traditional production, but it also comprises excellent research carried out across various institutions, companies, research institutes, and universities.
n CZECH CHEMIST OF GLOBAL
n CHEMISTS HAVE DEVELOPED
The activities of Martin Pumera, a chemist of global importance, also include the development of chemical nanorobots, which are tiny movable machines performing pre-programmed tasks, such as the implementation of medicaments and the removal of contaminants from the environment. In designing the robots, he draws inspiration from extremely small organisms – bacteria. Although they have no brain, they communicate with each other and can obtain energy for themselves. The robot obtains the fuel for movement through an enzyme able to create carbon dioxide, water and energy from a molecule of sugar; for this purpose, such an enzyme is attached to the body of the robot. But this is not the only way of making the robot move. The robot can also be driven by the photocatalytic decomposition of water on the surface of titanium dioxide, which is normally used as white pigment, or it will start to move due to a slightly acidic substance in the milieu reacting with the “body” of the robot. It always depends on the milieu in which the robot moves and what work task is assigned to it.
The substance with unique features, important to industry, can be fabricated by Masaryk University researchers much more effectively than usual. Graphene is a carbon form having the height of one atom and an arrangement similar to beehives. The team, headed by Pavel Pazdera from the Chemistry Institute of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Masaryk University, started this work with graphenoids, thanks to the offer for collaboration with Senergos Company, which was interested in using them in air-conditioning units. Graphene is manufactured on an industrial scale either by applying the procedure of chemical vapour deposition of carbon on the surface of a copper foil, or, on the contrary, applying the procedure of the thinning of multilayer material to monolayer graphene having the thickness of a single atom. The process leaves behind significantly explosive mixtures and toxic wastes, the disposal of which makes the manufacture very expensive and limits its industrial applicability.
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AN ENVIRONMENTALLYFRIENDLIER METHOD OF THE FABRICATION OF KEY GRAPHENE
To get the right idea about the dimensions of the robot: it is 100 times thinner than a human hair. So, these helpers, invisible to the naked eye, can penetrate even into places where surgeons with normal instruments cannot reach. Martin Pumera is ranked by Stanford University as the 203rd most cited scientist in the world. Besides nanorobots, he is also working on the 3D printing of bacteria and other energy devices.
Photo: Ceitec; ÚOCHB archives
IMPORTANCE
