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MOLECULAR
FOUNDRY GROUNDBREAKING MARKS BERKELEY LAB'S LEAP
INTO THE NANOREVOLUTION
BERKELEY,
CA , USA. The term “Molecular Foundry” suggests a place where
objects are forged and new materials are
molded. Like the foundries of
the
industrial revolution, this new concept, on a
nanoscale, promises to
revolutionize
the way the world works. It begins at the Department
of
Energy’s
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – ceremonially,
on Friday, Jan. 30).
That’s
when ground was turned for the official beginning
of construction
on
a six-story, $85 million, 94,500-square-foot research
building that
will
be one of the centerpieces of the DOE’s Nanoscale
Research Program.
Berkeley
Lab’s Molecular Foundry is one of five DOE research
centers to
be
constructed over the next few years.
“This
facility will assist scientists in reaching new
frontiers in the
study
of nanoscale research and its practical application,”
Secretary of
Energy
Spencer Abraham said. “It represents a beginning
of a revolution
in
science, opening up a broad array of innovation
in materials science,
biology,
medicine, technologies for environmental research
and national
security.
“Berkeley
is blessed with tremendous resources, such as
the national
supercomputing
center (NERSC), the Advanced Light Source, and
the
National
Center for Electron Microscopy,” he added. “All
will be
instrumental
in the revolution in science offered by the Molecular
Foundry.”
“Nanoscale
research will, in many respects, represent the
new building
blocks
for new technologies and applications across the
science and
industry
spectrum,” said Berkeley Lab Director Charles
Shank.
“Understanding
the properties of materials on the tiniest scale
will
have
an impact on everything, from medicine to manufacturing.”
Nanoscale
research enables scientists literally to build
novel
structures
atom by atom. The fundamental properties of materials
and
systems
are established at the nanoscale.
Nanomaterials, typically on
the
scale of billionths of a meter, or 75,000 times
smaller than the
width
of a human hair, offer different chemical and
physical properties
than
the same materials in bulk form, and have the
potential to form the
basis
for new technologies. This especially includes
the realm of
molecular
biology.
Berkeley
Lab’s Molecular Foundry – actually the research
building around
which
Foundry programs will be developed – will include
six facilities
available
to users from around the world. These include
labs and experts
devoted
to inorganic nanostructures; nanofabrication;
organic,
polymer/biopolymer
synthesis; biological nanostructures; imaging
and
manipulation;
and theory. Its focus will be on the design, synthesis
and
characterization
of both “soft” (biological and polymer) and “hard”
(inorganic
and microfabricated) substances and the integration
of these
into
complex assemblies.
The
SmithGroup of San Francisco designed the structure,
which will
follow
the contours of a hillside site between a materials
research
building
and the microscopy center. Construction will be
coordinated by
Rudolph
and Sletten, Inc. of Foster City. When completed
in 2006, the
Foundry
building will house more than 200 scientists and
support staff,
using
state-of-the-art instrumentation for imaging and
manipulation.
Berkeley
Lab’s facility is one of five in the DOE’s proposed
Nanoscience
Research
Program; others will be developed at Oak Ridge
National
Laboratory,
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National
Laboratory
and
Sandia National Laboratories/Los Alamos National
Laboratory.
The
possibilities to grow out of this and other initiatives
dedicated to
the
field of nanoscience are virtually limitless.
Some potential
outcomes
that have been suggested include:
*
Carbon nanotubes -- sheets of graphite
rolled into extremely narrow
tubes
a few nanometers in diameter – could be the possible
building
blocks
of future electronic devices.
*
Nanotechnology may one day enable the detection
of disease on the
cellular
level and the targeting of treatment only to tissues
where it
is
needed in a patient’s body, potentially alleviating
many unpleasant
and
sometimes harmful side effects.
*
Nanomanufacturing of parts and materials
“from the bottom up”—by
assembling
them on an atom-by-atom basis—may one day be used
to reduce
waste
and pollution in the manufacturing process.
*
Nanosensors already are being developed
to allow fast, reliable,
real-time
monitoring for everything from chemical attack
to
environmental
leaks.
*
Woven into a cable, carbon nanotubes could
provide electricity
transmission
lines with substantially improved performance
over current
power
lines.
*
Certain nanomaterials show promise for
use in making more efficient
solar
cells and the next-generation catalysts and membranes
that will be
used
in hydrogen-powered fuel cells.
U.S.
Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, was featured speaker
at the
groundbreaking
ceremony. Honda was co-sponsor of the Boehlert-Honda
Nanotechnology
Act of 2003, which authorizes $3.7 billion over
the next
three
years for nanotechnology research and development
programs
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