‘Quantum dots’ researchers win Nobel chemistry prize

A trio of United States-based researchers on Wednesday won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for developing tiny "quantum dots" used to illuminate TVs and lamps, hours after a prematurely sent statement revealed their names.

French-born Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus of the US and Russian-born Alexei Ekimov brought advances on tiny particles that "now spread their light from televisions and LED lamps, and can also guide surgeons when they remove tumor tissue," the jury said.

Bawendi, 62, born in Paris to French and Tunisian parents, is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Brus, 80, is a professor at Columbia in New York, and Russian-born Alexei Ekimov, 78, was formerly the chief scientist at the US-based Nanocrystals Technology.

Quantum dots
According to the jury, physicists had "long known" about the quantum effects that could arise in nanoparticles, but previously it was "impossible to sculpt in nanodimensions."

In the early 1980s, Ekimov "succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in colored glass," and a few years later, Brus was the first "to prove
size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid."

"In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be utilized in applications," the jury explained.

In addition to their current use, they are believed to to be able to contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and encrypted communication in the future, with the Academy noting that "we have just started exploring the potential of these tiny particles."

The trio will share the award of 11 million Swedish kronor (around $1 million) and will receive the prize from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist Alfred Nobel who created the prizes in his last will and testament.

Leaked names
The chemistry award is the third Nobel of the season after the medicine prize and the physics prizes were announced earlier in the week.

A rare leak led to the winners' names being mistakenly sent to media outlets hours before they were officially announced, prompting an apology from the awards' overseers.

Hans Ellegren, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said a press release went out for "still unknown reasons."

"We deeply regret that this happened. The important thing is that it did not affect the awarding of the prize recipients in any way," Ellegren during a press conference.