Robert A. Freitas Jr., who will be speaking at our upcoming conference, has just published with three co-authors the most comprehensive analysis of the hydrogen abstraction tool (for diamond mechanosynthesis) ever written. It is published in the current issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry, a prestigious mainstream chemistry journal of the first rank. The abstract at the ACS website is here. BerhaneTemelso, the lead author and PhD graduate student at Georgia Tech, won the Foresight Distinguished Student Award for his work on this paper. Alcor’s support is proudly acknowledged at the end of the paper and helped make this fine work possible. They also have a second paper in progress, with the same co-authors (which include David Sherrill and Ralph Merkle), probably to go to the same journal, analyzing the hydrogen donation tool.
Rob continues working on his “magnum opus” paper on diamond mechanosynthesis –a comprehensive study of all reaction pathways needed to build a basic adamantane cage (the repeating unit of diamond crystal) using positionally-controlled chemistry, and also to build and recharge all the tools needed for this. The analysis uses good quality ab initio quantum chemistry methods, has been in progress for 2 years, and has required thousands of simulation runs (with each run typically needing 10-20 hours to complete on a 2-3 GHz computer). The study is now about 80-85% finished and sufficient useful pathways for building diamond have been found. The paper will be submitted and published sometime in 2007 and will provide the first well-checked clearly-defined theoretical procedure for building diamond (and building all necessary tools), using mechanosynthetic tools, that has ever been published.
Some of Rob’s recently published papers, which directly acknowledge Alcor’s support whenever format permits, are available online as follows:
(1) Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Pharmacytes: An Ideal Vehicle for Targeted Drug
Delivery,” J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 6(September/October 2006):2769-2775.
(Description of another new nanorobot, called the pharmacyte, published in a
mainstream peer-reviewed nanotech journal.)
(2) Berhane Temelso, C. David Sherrill, Ralph C. Merkle, Robert A. Freitas
Jr., “High-level Ab Initio Studies of Hydrogen Abstraction from Prototype
Hydrocarbon Systems,” J. Phys. Chem. A 110 (28 September 2006):11160-11173.
Abstract.
(3) Jingping Peng, Robert A. Freitas Jr., Ralph C. Merkle, James R. Von Ehr,
John N. Randall, George D. Skidmore, “Theoretical Analysis of Diamond
Mechanosynthesis. Part III. Positional C2 Deposition on Diamond C(110)
Surface using Si/Ge/Sn-based Dimer Placement Tools,” J. Comput. Theor.
Nanosci. 3(February 2006):28-41.
Full Paper
(The final Zyvex paper evaluating the use of our proposed dimer placement tool to add carbon atoms to build diamond structures — the paper reports that the tool should work well.)
(4) Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Nanosurgery,”
Intl. J. Surgery 3(December 2005):1-4.
Full Paper
(An invited editorial for a noted surgery journal, discussing nanorobotics for surgery.)
(5) Robert A. Freitas Jr., “What is Nanomedicine”" Nanomedicine: Nanotech.
Biol. Med. 1(March 2005):2-9.
Full Paper
(First paper in the first issue of the first major mainstream journal on nanomedicine.)
(6) Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Current Status of Nanomedicine and Medical
Nanorobotics (Invited Survey),” J. Comput. Theor. Nanosci. 2(March
2005):1-25.
Full Paper
(An extensive invited survey article on the field of nanomedicine.)
