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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Researchers demonstrated a molecular nanotube that reversibly contracts and expands as its temperature changes. In a 2012 laboratory study, bent aromatic molecules assembled into hollow tubes in water; heating made the tubes’ internal volume shrink by about 50%, and some encapsulated fullerene molecules were released. This was a molecular-scale experiment, not a commercial nanotube product or a demonstrated transporter.
How the nanotubes assemble
The structures are supramolecular: their components associate through noncovalent interactions rather than being joined into one continuous covalent framework. The researchers designed bent-shaped aromatic amphiphiles—molecules with water-compatible and water-avoiding regions. In water, six molecules form a ring-like macrocycle. The rings then stack to create a hollow tubule. The original paper describes this architecture and its temperature-responsive motion in its abstract and bibliographic record.
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The aromatic segments line the tubule’s interior. Because neighboring segments can slide relative to one another, the stacked rings are not rigid: the tube can change its shape in response to heat.
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Temperature is the trigger. As the tubules warm, their aromatic components slide, causing the structures to contract; cooling reverses the motion and allows them to expand. The transition also inverts the tubules’ helical chirality, meaning the handedness of their helical arrangement switches. The paper characterizes the structures as pulsating tubules and reports a reversible response, rather than a one-way collapse.
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The authors report about a 50% reduction in internal tubule volume upon heating. Chemistry World’s 2012 account describes the experiment as heating from room temperature to 60°C and summarizes the result as nearly 50% cavity shrinkage. These are related descriptions of the measured change, but volume reduction and cavity shrinkage are not interchangeable with a claim that the tube’s length or diameter fell by 50%.
What happened to molecules inside
The researchers tested the tubes with C60 fullerene molecules, which could be encapsulated in the aromatic interior. As the tubules contracted, the fullerene–fullerene interactions inside changed. The paper reports that thermal triggering regulated those interactions through the tubes’ pulsating motion and that some guests were released upon heating. Chemistry World’s report says about half of the encapsulated C60 molecules were expelled in the experiment.
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This demonstrates temperature-responsive guest containment and release in the reported system. It does not establish a device that transports cargo through the body, moves substances on demand in practical settings, or delivers a useful quantity of material.
What the demonstration does—and does not—show
The result is a proof of molecular design: a self-assembled structure can respond dynamically to a thermal trigger while changing its cavity and the interactions of molecules inside it. The authors suggested that controlling the alignment of particles inside a tube might be useful. That is a proposed direction, not evidence that these tubules function as electrical conductors or working molecular transporters.
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Jon Steed of Durham University, an outside expert not involved in the study, described the work as a step toward sophisticated functional nanosystems, while noting that applications may lie on a long time horizon. His comment appeared in Chemistry World’s report, published 20 September 2012.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why this remains a research result
The primary paper, “Pulsating Tubules from Noncovalent Macrocycles,” was published in Science in 2012. The available accounts establish that laboratory demonstration; they do not establish independent replication, commercialization, or practical deployment since publication. The finding is therefore best understood as an intriguing example of responsive supramolecular chemistry, not as a nanotube technology ready for use.
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