Using some of the world’s most advanced microscope technology, scientists have captured images of molecules changing their charge state in real time. To do this, they added and removed electrons, directly observing changes to the structure of four molecules.
Although we’ve known for a long time that such changes occur, this marks the first time anyone has actually seen it happening. It could help us gain a new understanding of several molecular processes, including chemical reactions, catalysis and charge transport, and potentially even processes in living organisms.
“We have been able to resolve with unprecedented resolution the structural changes of individual molecules upon charging,” explained chemist Leo Gross of IBM Research-Zurich.
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