Caging of molecules allows investigation of equilibrium thermodynamics

摘要

A team of scientists from Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) (Germany) and Linkoping University (LIU) (Sweden) has developed a methodology to investigate the equilibrium thermodynamics of single molecules. In the search for high performance materials for applications such as gas storage, thermal insulators or dynamic nanosystems it is essential to understand the thermal behaviour of matter down to the molecular level. Classical thermodynamics average over time and over a large number of molecules. Within a three-dimensional space single molecules can adopt an almost infinite number of states, making the assessment of individual species nearly impossible.