CHOLESTEROL WILL POWER FUTURE ELECTRONICS: RESEARCH
New Delhi, Sep 09, 2025 : Cholesterol can be used to control the spin of electrons. Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, have proposed cholesterol-based nanomaterials as novel platforms for future quantum technologies and spintronic applications.
The Ministry of Science and Technology issued a statement on Monday giving this information.
Cholesterol, a fat-like substance commonly associated with cardiovascular diseases, serves as an ideal platform to create supramolecular-based spintronic materials. It enables precise control over molecular properties due to its intrinsic chirality and flexibility.
This discovery has been made by scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
These materials can control the spin of electrons, a quantum property that is crucial for next-generation electronics. By combining metal ions with organic structures, the team of scientists led by Dr. Amit Kumar Mandal has proven that by adjusting the type and concentration of metal ions, a material can change how well it separates electrons based on its magnetic “spin” orientation. By combining cholesterol with different metal ions, the researchers have created nanomaterials that selectively filter electron spins.
Interestingly, one can control both spin directions in the same system. This means that with a simple chemical change or a chemical excitation the scientists could adjust the flow of spin information. Their findings have been published recently in 'Chemistry of Materials'.
This chemical tuning provides a powerful and exquisite technique to control spin information with high precision, representing an important advance in the development of organic materials for advanced quantum and spin technologies.
This could lead to the creation of energy-efficient memory chips for green technology and bio-electronic devices, as spin-based materials can help separate molecules with extreme precision.