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New Transportation Technology For Micro-cargoes

Date:
February 24, 2008
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
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.
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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.


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Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

American Chemical Society. "New Transportation Technology For Micro-cargoes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 February 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218160651.htm>.
American Chemical Society. (2008, February 24). New Transportation Technology For Micro-cargoes. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218160651.htm
American Chemical Society. "New Transportation Technology For Micro-cargoes." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218160651.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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