Save
Email
Print
ShareScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2008) — Scientists in Japan are reporting the discovery of a new transportation technology for moving ultra-small cargoes in the coming generation of micromachines and laboratories-on-a-chip.
The study describes successful delivery of a simulated microcargo of paper with chemical waves produced by a reaction that has fascinated scientists and students for 50 years. Termed the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, it produces a continuing series of waves in a water solution.
In the report, researchers describe the first use of those waves to move objects in a directed, controlled fashion. "They can be used for the transport of material objects through a desired delivery route," the report states. "The combination of carrying and controlling waves with the proper timing of initiation allows us, in principle, to deliver freight over a chosen path, with the ability to switch the path if desired."
Microfreight Delivered by Chemical Waves" by Kenichi Yoshikawa and colleagues is scheduled for the March 6 issue of ACS' Journal of Physical Chemistry.
Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Chemical Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
more 
