These
superatoms may also have potential biomedical applications such as sensing, imaging and drug delivery.
Sometimes these clusters are called "
superatoms" because they can mimic the chemistry of single atoms of a completely different element.
We read with interest your article on
superatoms ("Small, but super," SN: 6/21/08, p.
Recently researchers have reported successes in creating new
superatoms and deciphering their structures.
These condensates are tantamount to
superatoms in which all the atoms merge to share the same space and quantum energy state (SN: 7/15/95, p.
Since they made the first such
superatoms almost 5 years ago (SN: 7/15/95, p.
Buckyballs also bond in this way, but their large size makes for attractions strong enough to hold these "
superatoms" together as a solid even at room temperature.
All this means that
superatoms should exist, and it should be possible to make "molecules," "crystals" and even "metals" out of them.
Although superatomic materials have previously been demonstrated in three dimensions, so far it has not been possible to prepare these materials in two dimensions due to a lack of covalent bonding between the
superatoms.
Khanna, "Clusters,
superatoms, and building blocks of new materials," Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol.
Sawa et al., "A layered ionic crystal of polar Li@[C.sub.60]
superatoms," Nature Chemistry, vol.