CCNY study breaks Forster resonant energy transfer distance limit

Using engineered nanocomposite structures called metamaterials, a City College of New York-led research team reports the ability to measure a significant increase in the energy transfer between molecules.

Reported in the journal ACS Photonics, this breakthrough breaks the Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) distance limit of ~10-20 nanometers, and leads to the possibility of measuring larger molecular assemblies.

And since FRET is a staple technique in many biological and biophysical fields, this new development could benefit pharmaceuticals, for instance.

"Energy transfer between molecules plays a central role in phenomena such as photosynthesis and is also used as a spectroscopic ruler for identifying structural changes of molecules," said Vinod Menon, professor of physics in City College's Division of Science. "However, the process of energy transfer is usually limited in the distance over which it occurs, typically reaching 10 to 20 nm."

But in the study reported by Menon's research group in ACS Photonics, the authors demonstrate significant increase in the energy transfer distance (> 15x) - reaching ~ 160 nm. This is accomplished by using a metamaterial that undergoes a topological transition.

The present work sets the stage for the use of spectroscopic rulers for studying a wide array of larger molecular systems which has not been previously possible using standard FRET technique.

Related Links
City College of New York
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

Pushing the extra cold frontiers of superconducting science
Ames IA (SPX) Oct 19, 2018
Measuring the properties of superconducting materials in magnetic fields at close to absolute zero temperatures is difficult, but necessary to understand their quantum properties. How cold? Lower than 0.05 Kelvin (-272C). "For many modern (quantum) materials, to properly study the fine details of their quantum mechanical behavior you need to be cool. Cooler than was formerly thought possible," said Ruslan Prozorov, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, who specializ ... read more