CERIS · Cold Electron chemical reactions and physical Interactions with Solids: fundamental experiments on damage and synthesis of biomolecules
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2005-01-01 → 2006-12-31
- EU contribution
- €188,975
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- EIF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - CERIS (Cold Electron chemical Reactions and physical Interactions with Solids: fundamental experiments on damage and synthesis of biomolecules)
Many agents may provide insight into the structure and properties of materials which form the basis of both the natural world and modern technology. Among these agents, electrons, the tiny charged particles which are the constituents of all atoms and molecules, play a dominating role. We freed electrons from their atoms, using energetic light from the synchrotron radiation source at Aarhus University, Denmark, and unified these electrons into beams. Our first achievement was to create electron beams at extremely low energy, in a regime in which other experiments could not work, by a factor of a hundred. We investigated how these beams interacted with fundamental compounds, such as ice or acetic acid. Our aim in doing this was twofold. In the first place, electrons impinge on ices, which include all condensed compounds in the natural world, as for example in the cold upper atmosphere of the Earth and other planets and beyond the solar system in outer space. In the second place, knowledge of interactions of electrons with solid material should underpin emerging technologies in the nano-sciences, particularly in electron-controlled chemical lithography in which chemical patterning might be achieved in the future through electron beams. Our second major achievement was to gather data on how very low energy 'cold' electrons passed through, e.g. in water ice or in acetic acid ice. Acetic acid was found to gather cold electrons very efficiently and prevent their passage, with the material being strongly charged. Water ice, the most prevalent ice in the natural world, demonstrated a most extraordinary and unexpected property. In contrast to other ices, water ice allowed for the passage of electrons with 100 % efficiency at very low energy and was transparent to electrons. This electrical property of water ice could have important consequences regarding our understanding of the role of ice-covered particles in nature and future nano-electronics.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The proposed project involves the new field of the interaction of very low energy (cold") electrons with condensed molecules. The aim is to study (i) the breakdown of biomolecules, e.g. DNA (radiation damage) and (ii) biomolecule synthesis, e.g. aminoacids, in ices of e.g. water, ammonia, methanol etc. in the context of electron induced processing at the molecular level, relevant to DNA damage, nanoscience and astrobiology.The project will further our ability to manipulate and control physico-chemical processes at the molecular level and how to control electron interactions in a new energy regime. Electron-induced processes will be extended into unexplored fields for Framework 6 in biology and nanoscience ERAs: studies of biomolecule irradiation have only been reported down to electron impact energies of ~1eV. The project concentrates on the energy range down to a few meV, where cross-sections for attachment may be much larger and damage effects may be greatly enhanced.Using a synchrotron based cold electron source, DNA, oligonucleotides and their constituent molecules will be irradiated with electrons and the results analysed by gel electrophoresis and the novel technique of Atomic Force Microscopy, the latter to show conformational changes. Studies of the synthetic role of cold electrons arise from interest in the formation of biomolecules, e.g. aminoacids, around the early Sun and Earth and identified in meteorites.The results of this work have spin-off in nanofabrication in bio-nanotechnology. After two years, the expertise of the applicant in the techniques of the handling of biomaterials, in electron physics, in many related technical issues, will be greatly enhanced, leaving the applicant with excellent prospects for a future career in research. The new input that both parties, host and researcher, will gain from each other will stimulate the advancement of the field, generating novel approaches in the innovative topics of the proposed project."
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF AARHUS · AARHUS CCoordinatorDenmark
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union