Scientists at Rice University and the University of Graz in Austria used light to drive single-molecule three-wheeled nanocars and saw for the first time how they moved. The nanocar's inventor and chemist James Tour's lab synthesized light-driven nanocars six years ago, but with the help of Austrian experimental physicists, they are now able to drive a single-molecule fleet at the same time. A research report on this work was published in the journal ACS Nano of the American Chemical Society. “It’s exciting to see a motorized nanocar that can be driven by a light-activated motor,†says Tour, who proposed the concept of a nanocar in 2005 and motorized a year later. “These tricycles were the first light-driven nanocars that were observed in any way to push them across the surface, not to mention the scanning tunneling microscope.†At the upcoming International Nanocar Competition in Toulouse, France, unlike other people using chemical or tunneling microscope tips to drive vehicles, Rice University researchers used specific wavelengths of light to move their nanocars along the copper surface. . These vehicles have a rear-wheel molecular engine that rotates in one direction when struck by light. This rotation is like propeller pushing the vehicle forward in the water. The team led by Tour and Leonhard Grill, a professor at the University of Graz who worked at the Fritz-Haber Institute in Berlin, used a wavelength-sensitive modified motor invented by Dutch scientist Bernard Feringa. Also because of the research on molecular machines shared this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Remote control is critical to the usefulness of these vehicles. "If we have to connect the vehicle to the power supply with a 'wire', such as an electron beam, then we will lose a lot of car functionality," Tour said. “Using light to give them energy can drive them to wherever light can shine – and ultimately we want them to carry the goods.†Another advantage is the ability to drive a nano car fleet at a time. “That's exactly what we're looking for – using light to activate the motor and make the nanocars over the surface, making it directional through the electric field gradient,†says Tour. “This will enable us to imagine a scenario where nanomachines are used like ants and let them work together to build.†Grill said that remote control of the vehicle by light eliminates the need for localized probes that need to be mapped to the molecules one by one. “In addition, there is no longer a need for 'fuel' molecules that can contaminate surfaces and change diffusion characteristics,†he said. Tour used a modified version of the Feringa motor to power his laboratory's nano submersible pumps. In this example, the motor is the rear wheel. According to Grill, the three-wheel structure simplifies its use, as larger nanocars are more difficult to place on the envisioned surface, which is often freed during deposition in a vacuum. Experiments by the first author, Alex Saywell of the Grill group at a nano-sports car made by Rice University, demonstrated that a good balance of light and temperature is required in order to achieve "enhanced diffusion" in a vacuum. Grill says that driving nanomachines with light offers a fundamental advantage - because of the wavelength sensitivity of the motor, we are able to selectively induce motion. The 266-nm UV is twice as large as the sports car without the motor-controlled sports car. At 355 nm, it will double. This 112-atom light-activated sports car achieves a top speed of 23 nanometers per hour. The surface activation temperature of an absolute temperature of 161 Kelvin (170 degrees Fahrenheit) proved to be the best driving condition. If the temperature is too cold, the sports car will stick to the surface; if it is too hot, they will spread randomly without the help of a motor. “We are amazed at the clear correlation between the presence of the motor and the enhancement of motion, the need for light and heat to activate this movement – ​​exactly the same as the concept of Feringa motors – and the wavelength sensitivity in the solution is very spectrally Well met our expectations," says Grill. apple earbuds apple earbuds Guangzhou Ysure Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. , https://www.ysurecase.com