The Royal Swedish Academy on Wednesday announced the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov for their discovery and development of quantum dots, which are nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties. Quantum dots are the smallest components of nanotechnology, and they are used to spread light from televisions and LED lamps and also to guide surgeons when they remove tumour tissue, along with many other applications, according to the academy. “Quantum dots have many fascinating and unusual properties. Importantly, they have different colours depending on their size,” said Johan Åqvist, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, in a press statement. For a long time, scientists have known that in theory, nanoparticles could display size-dependent quantum effects. But it was also thought that it would be almost impossible to create particles with “nanodimensions,” which meant that few people believed this theory could be put to practical use. But in the early 1980s, Russian solid-state physicist Alexei Ekimov was successful in creating size-dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. The colour came from nanoparticles of copper chloride, and Ekimov was able to demonstrate that the size of the particle affected the colour of the glass due to quantum effects. American scientist Louis Brus became the first scientist in the world to demonstrate these size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a fluid. American scientist Moungi Bawendi, in 1993, revolutionised the process of chemically producing quantum dots, meaning that almost perfect particles could be manufactured. Interestingly, the names of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in chemistry were leaked a few hours before the official announcement, reports The Guardian. The award-giving body inadvertently leaked the names of Bawendi, Brus and Ekimov to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an email.
