Tooltip preparation zone

The Tooltip preparation zone is the part in a gemstone metamaterial on-chip nanofactory where all the tooltip preparation is done.

Initial pickup

Picking up the resource molecules from where there get in after the sorting rotors zone. Thereby finally transferring them into machine pages. This is easier when the resource molecules have unsaturated bonds on them like in the case of ethyne.

Radicalization / activation

Here molecule fragments are piezochemically pre-processed for subsequent piezochemical deposition.

Ripping off eventually present passivating atoms (typically hydrogen) in order
to convert the now bond molecule fragments into a highly reactive radicals that are fit for piezochemical deposition.

Examples:

• ripping of the two hydrogens from ethyne
• ripping hydrogen from water
• ripping OH groups off from oxoacids like e.g. sulfuric acid H₂SO₃, phosphoric acid,

Radicalizer regeneration

After ripping of passivation passivating atoms "radicalizing tooltips" are saturated
and themselves need to be freed of these atoms in order to be reusable again.
Excess hydrogen can be disposed of as utra-pure "waste" water so long as free dioxygen is available.
Otherise at least molecular dihydrogen is an option.

This requires the reintroduction of these small molecules (typically water or dihydrogen) into some dystactic phase like liquid or gas phase.

Gas phase steps?

There are a few of these in the tooltip cycle paper. (wiki-TODO: reread and add more notes on that here)
Will it be possible to avoid them alltogether?
Will there be motivation to avoid them? (seems likely).

Before and after

Next station:

• mechanosynthesis core where the final piezochemical deposition happens.

Previous stations:

• Solvated resource supply
• Sorting rotors – specifically here: Acetylene sorting pump – Nanosystems pages 374, 378, 379
• Final transfer into machine phase – this may split up into sub processes – Related:Machine phase
• Tooltip loading

Related

• Sequence of zones

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• Tooltip cycle paper – 9 diamondoid tooltips paper – (degree of freedom in barrel systems sufficient?)
• Mechanosynthetic resource molecule splitting
• Tooltip chemistry

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• Concept visualization animation video: Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts