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

Germany Elections 2025: CDU’s Friedrich Merz Expected to Win as Far Right AfD Is Set for Strong Second Place

German voters are going to the polls after an intense election campaign dominated by the…

22 hours ago

“See You in Court”: Donald Trump and Maine Governor Clash on Trans Athletes

President Donald Trump asked Maine Governor Janet Mills if her state would comply with the…

2 days ago

Pope Francis Treated For A “Complex Clinical Situation”

The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis is being treated for a "complex clinical situation"…

5 days ago

“Montoya, Por Favor”: How Spain’s Temptation Island Episode Broke the Internet

If you've been anywhere near social media over the past two weeks, you'll know the…

1 week ago

Ukraine: European Leaders Set to Hold Emergency Summit on Trump’s Peace Talks with Russia

EU and British leaders are set to gather next week for an emergency summit on…

1 week ago

Michael Schumacher: Three Convicted in Blackmail Plot

A German court has given a jail sentence to a man who tried to blackmail…

2 weeks ago