Cornerstone ceremony held at new Center for Nanoscale Materials

More efficient energy transmission and implantable devices that automatically sense drug levels and administer drugs are just two examples of the benefits of research that may result from work at the new Center for Nanoscale Materials, under construction at Argonne.

The cornerstone for the center, which will open in 2007, was laid at a recent ceremony.

Among the dignitaries participating in the dedication ceremony were U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel L. Bodman, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert and Raymond L. Orbach, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

“ This nanoscience center will be a national asset that will help define the future of science and technology for all of us,” Secretary Bodman said. “We fully expect the fields of energy, medicine, information technology and homeland security to be touched — if not transformed — by the work that will take place here. That is why we are making such a substantial investment, both in facilities such as this and in nanoscale research in general.”

Governor Blagojevich stressed the importance of the Department of Energy (DOE) and state of Illinois partnership in basic research at the nanoscale, which has strong potential for industrial and commercial applications. “This facility will provide the foundation of fundamental science,” he said. “The steps taken here will lead to revolutionary applications such as nanosize probes to target disease cell by cell, powerful solar cells and other applications we can't even imagine today.”

“ Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers, which represent the DOE Office of Science's singular contribution to the National Nanotechnology Initiative,” said Orbach. “When constructed, these centers will provide U.S. researchers with opportunities unmatched anywhere else in the world.”

The nanoscale refers to a size one-billionth of a meter, or about 70,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Materials that small exhibit entirely different properties from conventional materials. Specifically, temperature, electricity and magnetism are completely different from that of conventional materials, and could form the basis of new technologies.

The Center for Nanoscale Materials is a partnership between the Department of Energy and the State of Illinois — with each contributing $36 million for construction and instrumentation — as part of DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Center program.

The center's mission will support basic research and the development of advanced instrumentation to create novel materials that provide new insights at the nanoscale level. The existence of the center, with its centralized facilities, controlled environments, technical support and scientific staff, will enable researchers to excel and significantly extend their reach, according to Eric Isaacs, director of Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials.

“ It is hard to imagine an industry that will not be impacted by nanoscience,” Isaacs said. “We must first learn to synthesize the nanosized building blocks and then assemble them into something useful, or something we care about, such as massively parallel memory chips or advanced solar cells.”