Nanomotor

In a nano motor is a tiny, only a few nanometers large construct which can be used also tiny machines called nanobots or nanites to drive. The drive is done as stretching or pulling motion or rotation of a propeller. Nanomotors are needed and developed for various purposes in the fields of nanotechnology.

Visions and Goals

Have been in the trade press, in scientific journals as well as in movies and describe several possible applications. This ranges from simple mechanical devices, such as door or lid opener in the smallest dimensions to drug -transporting mini- submarine in the bloodstream or a flood of miniature milling, which eliminate deposits in the coronary arteries. The research goes on and so reports and scientific publications are to be read, in which the research and the structure of entire nano factories or production lines are planned and described for some time.

Types of Nanomotors

For the various applications, different nano motors are needed and developed, with the specific application does not yet exist in some cases, but only by the development of the drive is doable.

Physical Nanomotors

These drives are made of different materials from precious metals to carbon or titanium, these are usually produced artificially. The first nanotube engines were developed in 2003 by the group of Alex Zettl of the University of California, Berkeley.

Biological Nanomotors

In various fields of biochemistry to medicine or molecular biological drives are discovered and developed. These molecular motors are often to individual components of biological cells, so it is F- ATPase of the mitochondria, the power plants of cells with the enzyme. Furthermore, one knows so-called motor proteins, such as Kinesin.

Biophysical Nanomotors

As the name suggests it is a combination of the driving techniques mentioned above. Here, a non-biological structure in a complicated process is associated with a molecule, an enzyme or a biological structure.

Sources and Literature

• Timothy R. Kline, Walter F. Paxton, ^ Thomas E. Mallouk, Ayusman Sen: Catalytic Nano Motors: Remote - Controlled Autonomous Movement of Striped Metallic Nanorods. Applied Chemistry, Vol 44, No. 5, 2005 ISSN 1433-7851, pp. 744-746, doi: 10.1002/anie.200461890