Mini Rotors

Rotors are needed for a great variety of technical applications. Scientists at the University of Graz have developed one existing of a single molecule. Photo: Pixabay

Researchers at the University of Graz can control the rotation of individual molecules with precision

Researchers at the University of Graz have come one step closer to producing nano machines. Experimental physicist Leonhard Grill and his team have succeeded in developing an extremely miniaturised rotor in collaboration with colleagues from Rice University in the US. “We have successfully rotated a molecule with a size of just one nanometre on a silver surface with the utmost precision”, says Grill. The special interaction of the molecules with the surface ensures a precisely defined rotation in the desired direction, and only in this direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise. This stands in contrast to random rotation in both directions, which is prescribed by the laws of thermodynamics. “Our achievement is therefore much more precise and efficient than all previous rotors made of single molecules”, says the researcher from the University of Graz. Furthermore, the scientists were able to weaken the axis of rotation of the mini rotor with individual silver atoms so that the molecule moves sideways. This behaviour was clarified in cooperation with theoretical chemists from the University of Graz. “We have thus demonstrated the importance of a chemically precisely defined axis for the stability of such a miniaturised rotor”, says Grill. Rotors that work with precision are expected to be of central importance for the development of future nano-machines.
The work was carried out within the framework of a project financed by the EU programme “Future Emerging Technologies” and was published in the current issue of the journal “Nature Communications”

Publication:
G. J. Simpson, V. Garcia-Lopez, A. D. Boese, J. M. Tour, and L. Grill
„How to Control Single-Molecule Rotation“
Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12605-8 (2019)

Details on Leonhard Grill's research: www.nanograz.com

A single molecule can be rotated in a targeted manner. Photo: University of Graz / Grill

Dagmar Eklaude

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