The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced the winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023. The prestigious award goes to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov for their groundbreaking work on quantum dots, the smallest building blocks of nanotechnology.
Quantum dots are nanoparticles that have different colours depending on their size, thanks to quantum effects that arise when matter shrinks to nano-dimensions. The Nobel Laureates discovered and synthesized these tiny particles, and opened up a new field of research and applications.
Alexei Ekimov was the first to create quantum dots in coloured glass in the early 1980s, demonstrating that the particle size affected the colour of the glass. Louis Brus then proved that quantum effects could also be observed in particles floating freely in a fluid. Moungi Bawendi later developed a chemical method to produce quantum dots with high quality and precision, which enabled their use in various fields.
Quantum dots are now widely used in display technologies, such as QLED screens for computers and televisions. They also have potential applications in biomedicine, such as imaging and tracking of biological tissue, and in renewable energy, such as solar cells and quantum communication.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 honours the pioneers of quantum dots, who planted an important seed for nanotechnology. Their discoveries have led to new insights into the nature of matter and light, and have created new possibilities for science and society.
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