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Conducted the coldest chemical reaction

30.11.2019

Everything that happens at the level of molecules and atoms happens so fast that it cannot be seen without the use of ultra-high-speed lasers or other techniques. What happens during chemical reactions also falls into this category, but scientists at Harvard University have managed to produce the "coldest" chemical reaction by cooling molecules down to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. And this allowed them to see and film something that no one had ever seen before - the process of exchanging atoms between molecules.

Absolute zero (-273.15 degrees Celsius, 0 Kelvin) is considered the coldest possible temperature at which all movement of atoms and molecules stops completely and there is not a grain of thermal energy left in these molecules and atoms. In their research, the Harvard scientists cooled the molecules down to millionths of a degree above absolute zero, down to 500 nanoKelvins to be precise. This temperature is below any temperature of natural origin, in the coldest regions of interstellar space the temperature is kept at the level of 3 Kelvin.

Such a low temperature was created in the chamber of the Cold Atom Lab experiment, located on board the International Space Station (ISS), which is designed to conduct experiments at temperatures of about 100 nanoKelvins. In this case, a “gas” containing potassium and rubidium atoms was cooled to such a low temperature. When the molecules of such a gas collide, they exchange one atom, which leads to the appearance of two new molecules, one with two potassium atoms and the second with two rubidium atoms.

Under normal conditions, such reactions proceed very quickly, scientists could only note the disappearance of two original molecules and the appearance of two new molecules. What happens between these two stages has remained a mystery until recently. However, cooling to an ultra-low temperature made it possible to slow down this reaction millions of times, which, in turn, made it possible to observe and capture everything that was happening.

It turns out that when two rubidium-potassium molecules collide, one intermediate molecule is formed, consisting of two rubidium atoms and two potassium atoms. After that, scientists were able to see how the atomic bonds in this molecule "break" and it takes a new form, eventually splitting into two new independent molecules.

The researchers believe that this approach will allow them to study the mechanics of chemical reactions in even greater detail in the future. Moreover, the technology of low-temperature retardation will make it possible to carry out such reactions that cannot be carried out under normal conditions and even at higher, but still very low temperatures. This, in turn, will make it possible to synthesize new drugs, new materials for electronics, quantum technologies, and many other useful things.

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