Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to three scientists for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots – tiny crystals that can guide surgeons’ hands as they remove complex tumours

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two American scientists and a Russian for their work on quantum dots: small nanoparticles that illuminate QLED televisions.

The tiny crystals are already bringing “the greatest benefit to humanity,” experts say, because the bright light they emit is able to illuminate complex cancerous tumors and help surgeons remove them.

The scientists sharing the prize are Moungi Bawendi, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Louis Brus, from Columbia University, and Alexei Ekimov, from Nanocrystals Technology Inc. in New York City.

Their names were leaked by Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet hours before the official announcement was made.

The trio’s discoveries have helped revolutionize the consumer electronics and healthcare industries.

In the early 1980s, Ekimov succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in colored glass. The color came from copper chloride nanoparticles, and Ekimov showed that particle size affected the color of the glass via quantum effects.

A few years later, Brus was the first scientist in the world to demonstrate size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a liquid.

In 1993, Bawendi revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in near-perfect particles. This high quality was necessary to be able to use them in applications.

The particles are so small that their electrical and optical properties are influenced by quantum physics.

They have unique properties and now radiate their light from all kinds of devices, from television screens to computer screens and LED lamps.

Researchers believe that quantum dots could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, slimmer solar cells and perhaps encrypted quantum communications in the future.

More to follow…