Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chemists are exploring a new method for designing materials, and it’s called shape-directed self-assembly. A research team at Seoul National University created saddle-shaped molecules that stacked easily into columns, just like Pringles in a can. One variant of these compounds made molecular crystals with remarkable elasticity, and all variants exhibit fluorescence and waveguiding properties.
#crystals #chemistry #pringles #fiberoptics
Reporting in Journal of the American Chemical Society, “Click To Stack: Shape-Assisted Self-Assembly of Unflattened Macrocycles into Waveguiding Elastic Crystals.”
Read the paper: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.5c02849
(Corresponding authors: Dongwhan Lee, Ph.D., and Nam Ki Lee, Ph.D.)
Video credits:
Written and produced by Anne Hylden
Editing and animations by Janali Thompson
Narrated by Jefferson Beck
Series produced by Vangie Koonce, Anne Hylden, Andrew Sobey, and Jefferson Beck
Executive produced by Matthew Radcliff
Research videos from Hongsik Kim, Ph.D., Jung Bae Son, Ph.D., Myeongsu Jeong, and Youmin Ahn
Additional video from Anne Hylden
Drawings from U.S. Patent 3498798: Packaging of chip-type snack food products
3D molecular models from Cambridge Crystallography Data Centre: Identifiers WUVFEC, WUTREM, and WUVGAZ
Sound effects: Soundsnap
Music: “Dewdropper Kids (Instrumental)” by Steve Curry from Triple Scoop
Produced by the American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the world’s largest scientific societies. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences.
Join the #AmericanChemicalSociety! bit.ly/Join_ACS
#pringles #chips #crystals #chemistry
Chemists are exploring a new method for designing materials, and it’s called shape-directed self-assembly. A research team at Seoul National University created saddle-shaped molecules that stacked easily into columns, just like Pringles in a can. One variant of these compounds made molecular crystals with remarkable elasticity, and all variants exhibit fluorescence and waveguiding properties.
#crystals #chemistry #pringles #fiberoptics
Reporting in Journal of the American Chemical Society, “Click To Stack: Shape-Assisted Self-Assembly of Unflattened Macrocycles into Waveguiding Elastic Crystals.”
Read the paper: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.5c02849
(Corresponding authors: Dongwhan Lee, Ph.D., and Nam Ki Lee, Ph.D.)
Video credits:
Written and produced by Anne Hylden
Editing and animations by Janali Thompson
Narrated by Jefferson Beck
Series produced by Vangie Koonce, Anne Hylden, Andrew Sobey, and Jefferson Beck
Executive produced by Matthew Radcliff
Research videos from Hongsik Kim, Ph.D., Jung Bae Son, Ph.D., Myeongsu Jeong, and Youmin Ahn
Additional video from Anne Hylden
Drawings from U.S. Patent 3498798: Packaging of chip-type snack food products
3D molecular models from Cambridge Crystallography Data Centre: Identifiers WUVFEC, WUTREM, and WUVGAZ
Sound effects: Soundsnap
Music: “Dewdropper Kids (Instrumental)” by Steve Curry from Triple Scoop
Produced by the American Chemical Society (ACS), one of the world’s largest scientific societies. ACS is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences.
Join the #AmericanChemicalSociety! bit.ly/Join_ACS
#pringles #chips #crystals #chemistry
