Nanoart

Nano

A nanometer is a unit of length ... and a field of scientific research.
A nanometer is one million times smaller than a millimeter, the smallest division of our office rulers. The discoveries of the last forty years in physics, but also in chemistry and biology, have revolutionized our view of the world at the nanoscale. In particular, we have access to an accurate description of how macromolecules and self-assemblies bind to surfaces. We also know in detail the functioning of some of the real natural molecular machines that are proteins. Chemists build assemblies of a small number of molecules able to perform work under the action of a stimulus. Meanwhile, new experimental techniques allow to visualize and manipulate these objects.

NanoArt

Nanoart is a new art discipline at the intersection of art, science, and technology. It is inspired by the structures of natural or artificial matter (created by chemists) at the molecular and supramolecular levels. These structures are visualized using powerful tools such as scanning electron microscope or atomic force microscope (AFM). Artists reproduce or draw on these scientific images and transform them into artworks.

Left image: real atomic force microscopy (AFM) image showing supramolecular fibers composed themselves of several fibril of 1 nanometer of diameter. These fibrils have been obtained by supramolecular self-assembly of a number of molecules of triarylamine under light irradiation. These organic fibers give to the material the property of a highly conductive gel. AFM image size is 10 micrometers.
Synthesis and self-assembly: Joe Armao, Emilie Moulin, Nicolas Giuseppone.
AFM image: Mounir Maaloum.

Right image: photograph of the artwork done on canvas by the painter Robert Frank.

Left image: real atomic force microscopy (AFM) image showing a supramolecular self-assembly of dynamic peptides forming thermoreversible gels. AFM image size is 3 micrometers.
Synthesis and self-assembly: Stefano Zanirati, Nicolas Giuseppone.
AFM image: Mounir Maaloum.

Right image: photograph of the artwork done on canvas by the painter Robert Frank.

Left image: real atomic force microscopy (AFM) image showing self-assembly of a nanoscale ring of triarylamine molecules "nano-donut" for photovoltaic cells. AFM image size is 5 nanometers.
Synthesis and self-assembly: Adrian Wolf, Frédéric Niess, Emilie Moulin, Nicolas Giuseppone.
AFM image: Mounir Maaloum.

Right image: photograph of the artwork done on canvas by the painter Robert Frank.

Professor Robert Frank

Our friend and colleague Robert Frank, Honorary Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Strasbourg, has a long experience in the field of calcified ultrastructure tissues using scanning and transmission electron microscopies. Taking advantage of his retirement, he was able to learn the techniques of oil painting under the direction of Georges Hanskens, a painter from Mulhouse, and in 2006 he embarked in the field of NanoArt. In contrast to Cree Orfescu from Los Angeles, who is considered as the leader in this field, Robert Frank does not use computer software to color black and white electron micrographs, but practices oil painting to reproduce his subjects on canvas. He can thus avoid artifacts and achieve an easier synthesis of the essential elements to illustrate. Thus, in 2008, he filed the idea of Nano-painting at the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).