Sometimes, science does things just to see if it is possible. This seems to be one of those times. While I really wanted to have my long promised flying car by now, this is pretty cool too.
Controlled clockwise and anticlockwise rotational switching of a molecular motor
- U. G. E. Perera, F. Ample, H. Kersell, Y. Zhang, G. Vives, J. Echeverria, M. Grisolia, G. Rapenne, C. Joachim & S-W. Hla
- Nature Nanotechnology 8,46–51 (2013) doi:10.1038/nnano.2012.218
Abstract
The design of artificial molecular machines1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 often takes inspiration from macroscopic machines13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. However, the parallels between the two systems are often only superficial, because most molecular machines are governed by quantum processes.
Previously, rotary molecular motors3 powered by light4, 5, 6 and chemical7, 8, 9, 10, 11 energy have been developed. In electrically driven motors, tunnelling electrons from the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope have been used to drive the rotation of a simple rotor12 in a single direction and to move a four-wheeled molecule across a surface13. Here, we show that a stand-alone molecular motor adsorbed on a gold surface can be made to rotate in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction by selective inelastic electron tunnelling through different subunits of the motor. Our motor is composed of a tripodal stator for vertical positioning, a five-arm rotor for controlled rotations, and a ruthenium atomic ball bearing connecting the static and rotational parts. The directional rotation arises from sawtooth-like rotational potentials, which are solely determined by the internal molecular structure and are independent of the surface adsorption site.
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As far as powering small things with solar, I have two solar powered calculators I got in 1989 that are still functional. Some of the keys are breaking apart on one of them, but they still power up.
The bonds to the ferrocene moities are not shown correctly.
damn, wish i had some science, they just look like pretty shapes to me.
Roger Carr says:
December 31, 2012 at 11:43 pm
I bet that if I were to ask “Have you lived in Australia your whole life?” your response would be “Not yet.”
Very cool, indeed; “desk toy” it could be immediately. But upon what size engine do these molecular ball-bearings work? And in a discussion such as this, why quibble over the lengthy “counter-clockwise” vs. the longer-lived “anti-clockwise”? It would seem the brains involved here could understand either word and move on to bigger and deeper questions. And we wonder why Congress cannot find their own bums with both hands!
This atom bearing might be the building block for a motor that could rotate at the speeds needed to generate an electrical field powerful enough to warp space. Or maybe I’ve rubbed too many balloons in my hair and wondered what if?
What lubricates or keeps the ball bearing in suspension?
It would be energy of some sort, correct ?
I’ll exit the deep end of the pool now.
Sparks says:
December 31, 2012 at 11:49 pm
“How is it that a lot of engineers are out of work after building everything from schools, hospitals, factories, your home and everything you use in it? yet complete ar*** continue to get royalties and noble prizes for their work?”
You would be hard pressed to nominate any modern technology that did not have its genesis in pure research. When Michael Faraday was playing about with experiments in electromagnetism and James Clark Maxwell was formulating the equations governing it they had no conception of where that research would lead. If they had been told to stop playing around with useless stuff and concentrate on developing a better oil lamp, we would now have cities lit on the smell of an oily rag but no electronics. Try imagining our schools,hospitals, factories and homes without electronics.
My own field of research grew out of physicists after the war studying the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei with no thought of practical applications Hospitals now have MRI machines.