The Smallest Motor Made From A Single Molecule.

Researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts, US have created the smallest motor ever devised.

The tiny motor, made from a single molecule just a billionth of a metre across, is reported in Nature Nanotechnology.

The small electric motor could have applications in both nanotechnology and in medicine, where tiny amounts of work can be put to efficient use.

The smallest motor is made from a single molecule just a billionth of a metre across

 

Minuscule rotors based on single molecules have been shown before, but this is the first that they can be individually driven by an electric current, creating the smallest motor.

“People have found before that they can make motors driven by light or by chemical reactions, but the issue there is that you’re driving billions of them at a time – every single motor in your beaker,” said Dr. Charles Sykes, chemist at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

“The exciting thing about the electrical one is that we can excite and watch the motion of just one, and we can see how that thing’s behaving in real time,” he told BBC News.

The butyl methyl sulphide molecule was placed on a clean copper surface, where its single sulphur atom acted as a pivot for the smallest motor.

The tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope – a tiny pyramid with a point just an atom or two across – was used to funnel electrical charge into the motor, as well as to take images of the molecule as it spun.

It spins in both directions, at a rate as high as 120 revolutions per second.

But averaged over time, there is a net rotation in one direction.

“By modifying the molecule slightly, it could be used to generate microwave radiation or to couple into what are known as nano-electromechanical systems,” Dr. Sykes said.

“The next thing to do is to get the thing to do work that we can measure – to couple it to other molecules, lining them up next to one another so they’re like miniature cog-wheels, and then watch the rotation propagation down the chain,” Dr. Sykes added.

As well as forming a part of the tiniest machines the world has ever seen, such minute mechanics could be useful in medicine – for example, in the controlled delivery of drugs to targeted locations.

For the moment, the research team is in contact with the Guinness Book of World Records to have their motor certified as the smallest motor ever.

Nancy Clayson

Nancy is a young, full of life lady who joined the team shortly after the BelleNews site started to run. She is focused on bringing up to light all the latest news from the technology industry. In her opinion the hi-tech expresses the humanity intellectual level. Nancy is an active person; she enjoys sports and delights herself in doing gardening in her spare time, as well as reading, always searching for new topics for her articles.

Recent Posts

House Panel Votes to Release Matt Gaetz Ethics Report

The US House Ethics Committee has voted to release its report on former Republican Representative…

4 days ago

ABC News to Pay $15M to Settle Trump Defamation Suit

ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump to settle a…

1 week ago

South Korea’s Parliament Impeaches President Yoon Suk Yeol Following Martial Law Scandal

South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt…

1 week ago

Syria: Israeli War Planes Carry Out More Than 100 Air Strikes

Israeli war planes have carried out more than 100 air strikes in Syria on December…

2 weeks ago

Donald Trump Threatens 100% Tariff on BRICS Nations

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 100% tariffs on the BRICS countries if they…

3 weeks ago

Syria Coup: Rebels Take Control of Aleppo

Syrian troops have withdrawn from the city of Aleppo following an offensive by rebels opposed…

3 weeks ago