The Nobel Prize in Chemistry rewards three scientists for their work on tiny quantum dots that scatter the light from televisions and LED lamps

Scientists Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this Wednesday for their research on nanoparticles, in an edition marked by the leaking of their names before the official announcement.

The three scientists, whose names reached the Swedish press early on Wednesday, were rewarded for “the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots,” the agency said. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in a statement.

These tiny nanotechnological components diffuse the light from televisions and LED lamps and can also guide surgeons in removing tumor tissue, the Academy said.

Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals with a diameter between 2 and 10 nanometers. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.

The three winners

Specifically, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Alexei Ekimov78 years old and already born in Russia Louis Brus80 years old and born in the United States, “because he discovered that it is possible to manufacture quantum dots,” emphasized Heiner Linke, member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

Moungi Bawendi62 years old and born in France, was honored for having “realized a synthesis method that makes quantum dots widely useful,” Linke added.

Louis Brus is a professor at Columbia University in New York, and Alexei Ekimov was chief scientist at the American company Nanocrystals Technology.

Ekimov started his career at the Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), before moving to the United States in 1999.

Moungi Bawendi is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“The 2023 Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry have succeeded in producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena,” the Academy explains.

“What is striking about quantum dots is that by changing their size by a few hundred atoms or with an extra layer of atoms, you change their properties, for example their color,” says Heiner Linke.

Like the other Nobel Prizes, the one in chemistry was criticized for its lack of diversity and equality. Since 1901, only eight women have achieved this, out of 114 laureates.

The three laureates will share the 11 million kroner (approximately 920,000 euros, $1 million) prize, which will be presented to them by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the scientist’s death. who created the prizes in his will.

Moungi Bawendi, the worst student in the class

As a student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Moungi Bawendi failed his first chemistry exam and recalled that the experience almost “destroyed” him.

The 62-year-old, of Tunisian and French descent, excelled in science throughout high school without ever breaking a sweat.

But when he arrived at Harvard University as an undergraduate in the late 1970s, he was in for a rude awakening.

“I was used to not having to study for exams,” he told reporters on Wednesday, adding that he felt intimidated by both the sheer size of the room and the stern presence of an invigilator.

“I looked at the first question and couldn’t figure it out, and the second question I couldn’t figure out,” he recalled. Ultimately, he achieved a score of 20 out of 100, the lowest score in his entire class.

“And I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is the end of me, what am I doing here?’”

Although Bawendi loved chemistry, he realized that he had not learned the art of preparing for exams, something he quickly tried to rectify.

“I discovered how to study, something I didn’t know before,” he said, and after that “I got a 100 on practically every test.”

His message to young people is simple: “Persevere” and don’t let setbacks “destroy you.”

“My first experience with an F, by far the lowest grade in my class, could have easily destroyed me,” he added.

Chemistry is the third Nobel Prize of the season, after Medicine and Physics, which was announced this week.

The winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature and Peace will be announced on Thursday and Friday respectively, and the prize for Economics will be announced on Monday. (JO)