Highlights

  A continuing challenge for nanometer-scale science and technology is to create self-  propelling systems that are capable of providing mechanical work at high efficiency.  Such systems hold promise for a wide range of applications that include directed self-assembly, drug delivery, nanofluidic and nanorobotic systems. A minimalist’s nanomotor was proposed by exploiting asymmetric catalytic chemical reactions. By means of large-scale molecular simulations, this nanomotor exhibits interesting directional self-propelled motion without external agitation, a behavior which is typically observed in biological systems. Five snapshots of the simulation with an interval of 0.3 ns are shown above. The nanomotor (red) is decorated with catalysts (green) only at the bottom, where the exothermic catalytic reactions of fuels (purple) combine to products (blue) occur. The downward ejection of hot products propels the nanomotor move upward. This autonomous motion is a result of the conversion of chemical energy to mechanical propulsion at the nanoscale. Detailed analysis confirms that momentum transfer, the very propulsion mechanism that rockets thrive on, is central to understand the chemo-mechanical coupling in this type of nanomotor.

Further details can be found in following paper: Y. F. Shi, L. P. Huang, D. W. Brenner, J. Chem. Phys. (2009) and at:  http://www.rpi.edu/~shiy2/