Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023: The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Moungi G Bawendi, Louis E Brus, and Alexei I Ekimov on October 4, 2023. They received the Chemistry Nobel for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots, which are nanoparticles so small that their size determines their properties.
Quantum dots are nanoparticles made from semiconducting materials which show quantum effects because they are extremely tiny, and as a result, electrons are trapped inside the dot.
Quantum dots are seen in television screens.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences accidentally released the names of the three scientists a few hours ahead of the official announcement, news agency Reuters reported. A Swedish newspaper called Aftonbladet published a copy of an email the daily claimed was from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the report said. The email mentioned the names of the laureates as Moungi G Bawendi, Louis E Brus, and Alexei I Ekimov, the report said.
The 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Barry Sharpless, Morten Meldal and Carolyn Bertozzi for important breakthroughs that made it possible to create new molecules efficiently. Creation of new molecules is vital for pharmaceuticals, as well as materials science.
The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Benjamin List and David WC MacMillan “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis".
French physicists Anne L'Huillier and Pierre Agostini, and Hungarian-Austrian physicist Ferenc Krausz won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics on October 3, 2023.
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Hungarian American biochemist Katalin Karikó and American physician Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on October 2, 2023.
History of Nobel Prize in Chemistry
As of 2022, as many as 63 chemistry prizes have been given to one laureate only, as many as 25 prizes have been shared by two laureates, and 26 have been shared by three laureates.
From 1901 to 2022, as many as 191 laureates have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Frederick Sanger and Barry Sharpless have been awarded the Chemistry Nobel twice.
As many as eight women have been awarded the Chemistry Nobel as of 2022. Marie Curie and Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin were awarded unshared prizes in chemistry.
Frédéric Joliot, who was awarded the 1935 Chemistry Nobel when he was 35 years old, is the youngest person to win a Chemistry Nobel. He was awarded the Chemistry Nobel with his wife, Irène Joliot-Curie.
John B Goodenough, who was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, when he was 97 years old, is the oldest Chemistry Nobel laureate ever.
Goodenough pioneered the development of lithium-ion batteries. He passed away in June 2023 at 100 years of age.
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