If you shrink a chemical reaction down to the size of a raindrop, it might just stop working entirely.
Molecules that react perfectly well in a large beaker suddenly refuse to interact when confined to a tiny micro-droplet. This shows that the size of the container alone can act as a physical 'kill switch' for chemistry we thought we understood.
Nanodiamond Sensing of the Transmetalation Kinetics of Gd-DTPA in Individual Levitated Microdroplets
ChemRxiv · chemrxiv.15001511/v1
Directly measuring kinetics within microcompartments is critical for determining the distinct mechanisms that govern chemistry in confined environments. Here, we deploy nanodiamond (ND) particles hosting nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers as quantum sensors to track the transmetalation of gadolinium diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd–DTPA) in bulk solution and within single levitated, charged microdroplets by optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR). The appearance of paramagnetic Gd3+ during