The versatile molecule

Beta-cyclodextrin may bear a technical air, but it is essentially a simple, ring-shaped sugar molecule: seven glucose units joined to form a circle. The tiny, bowl-like structure of this cheap, biodegradable and food-safe molecule helps it trap other molecules inside it. Exactly the reasons why beta-cyclodextrin has fascinated soft matter physicist Ravi Kumar Pujala.

Pujala, an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, along with his colleagues, found that when the ring-like molecule is dissolved in a solvent, and water and some nanoparticles are added, the mixture spontaneously turns into a gel. "Beta-cyclodextrin's unique ability to form host-guest complexes offered a simple and environment-friendly way to tune microstructure, rheology and material performance," explains Pujala, whose team carried out the research together with collaborators from Université Paris-Saclay in France.

"What attracted us most was the possibility of using beta-cyclodextrin as a molecular tool to bridge fundamental science and practical applications in advanced nanocomposites," adds Pujala, whose work was recently published in Nanoscale Advances (bit.ly/beta-molecule).