title: Infochemistry and infofuses for the chemical storage and transmission of coded information.
abstract: This article describes a self-powered system that uses chemical reactions--the thermal excitation of alkali metals--to transmit coded alphanumeric information. The transmitter (an "infofuse") is a strip of the flammable polymer nitrocellulose patterned with alkali metal ions; this pattern encodes the information. The wavelengths of 2 consecutive pulses of light represent each alphanumeric character. While burning, infofuses transmit a sequence of pulses (at 5-20 Hz) of atomic emission that correspond to the sequence of metallic salts (and therefore to the encoded information). This system combines information technology and chemical reactions into a new area--"infochemistry"--that is the first step toward systems that combine sensing and transduction of chemical signals with multicolor transmission of alphanumeric information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Ryan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Chiechi
authors.forename: Christopher N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: LaFratta
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Wiley
authors.forename: Mitchell R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zakin
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Walt
authors.forename: George M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Whitesides
mesh_terms: D003101:Collodion / Q000737:chemistry*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008672:Metals, Alkali / Q000737:chemistry*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
chemical_list: D008672:Metals, Alkali; D003101:Collodion; D004247:DNA