Berkeley Lab researchers have discovered a family of nature-inspired polymers that, when placed in water, spontaneously assemble into hollow crystalline nanotubes. These nanotubes can be tuned to all have the same diameter of between five and ten nanometers, depending on the length of the polymer chain. Ken Downing, biophysicist senior scientist in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division, was part of the team that worked to develop and characterize the nanotubes, which have many potential uses, such as delivering cancer-fighting drugs inside cells or desalinating seawater. Read more at Berkeley Lab News Center.
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