Molecular orientation is key to designing better materials.

View as a Web Page Molecules Have an Orientation, and Scientists Have a New Way to Measure It In some materials, the molecules line up in a regular, repeating pattern. In others, they all point in random directions. But in many advanced materials used in medicine, computer chip manufacturing and other industries, the molecules arrange themselves in complex patterns that dictate the material's properties. Scientists haven't had good ways to measure molecular orientation in three dimensions at a microscopic scale, leaving them in the dark about why some materials behave the way they do. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have measured the 3D orientation of the molecular building blocks of plastics, called polymers, observing details as small as 400 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, in size. Read More IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Gecko Feet Are Coated in an Ultra-Thin Layer of Lipids That Help Them Stay Sticky July 6, 2022 Scientists already understood the mechanics of gecko adhesion. Now they have a clearer picture of the molecular structures that give the animal its grip. Read More

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