Nanomotor
A nanomotor is a tiny, only a few nanometers large construct that can be used to drive tiny machines, so-called nanobots or nanites. The drive takes place as a stretching or pulling movement or as a rotary movement of a propeller. Nanomotors are needed and developed for various purposes in the fields of nanotechnology .
Visions and goals
Various possible applications have been and are described in the specialist press, in scientific magazines and in films. This ranges from simple mechanical devices, e.g. B. door or lid openers in the smallest dimensions, up to the drug-transporting mini submarine in the bloodstream or a veritable flood of miniature milling machines, which remove deposits in the coronary vessels. The research goes on and so for some time there have been reports and scientific publications in which the research and construction of entire nanofactories or production lines are considered and described.
Types of nanomotors
Different nanomotors are required and developed for the various areas of application, although in some cases the specific application does not yet exist, but only becomes feasible through the development of the drive.
Physical nanomotors
These drives consist of different materials from precious metals to carbon or titanium, these are usually manufactured artificially. The first nanotube motors were developed in 2003 by Alex Zettl's group at the University of California, Berkeley .
Biological nanomotors
In various fields from biochemistry to medicine, biological or molecular drives are discovered and developed. These molecular motors are often individual components of biological cells , for example the enzyme F- ATPase from the mitochondria , the cells' power stations. Furthermore, so-called motor proteins such. B. Kinesin .
Biophysical nanomotors
As the name suggests, it is a combination of the aforementioned drive technologies. Here a non- biological structure is linked to a molecule , an enzyme or a biological structure in a complicated process .
Sources and literature
- Timothy R. Kline, Walter F. Paxton, ^ Thomas E. Mallouk , Ayusman Sen: Catalytic Nanomotors: Remote-Controlled Autonomous Movement of Striped Metallic Nanorods . Angewandte Chemie, Vol. 44, No. 5, 2005, ISSN 1433-7851 , pp. 744-746, doi : 10.1002 / anie.200461890
Web links
- Berkeley.edu - Physicists build world's smallest motor
- Nanotube Nanomotor research project
- Kleindiek Nanotechnik: http://www.nanotechnik.com/
- Klocke Nanotechnik: http://nanomotor.de/nanomotor
- Techportal Nanotechnology: http://www.techportal.de/de/b/2/start,public,start/
- What is a nanofactory? , Description of a nanofactory