Research report 2020 - Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Carbohydrates under the microscope
Authors
Delbianco, Martina
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung, Potsdam-Golm
Summary
Carbohydrates are abundant biopolymers with applications ranging from paper and textile manufacturing to pharmaceuticals. Still, their full potential remains untapped, because carbohydrates are not well understood at the molecular level. We synthesized well-defined samples for structural analysis. Imaging single carbohydrate molecules revealed that some polymers form helices while others adopt rod-like structures. These compounds assembled into materials with well-defined compositions, enabling applications in nanotechnology.