Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Molecular machines

Nanomotor rotates microscale objects

Nature volume 440, page 163 (2006)Cite this article

A molecular motor in a liquid-crystal film uses light to turn items thousands of times larger than itself.

Abstract

Nanomachines of the future will require molecular-scale motors1,2,3,4,5,6 that can perform work and collectively induce controlled motion of much larger objects. We have designed a synthetic, light-driven molecular motor that is embedded in a liquid-crystal film and can rotate objects placed on the film that exceed the size of the motor molecule by a factor of 10,000. The changes in shape of the motor during the rotary steps cause a remarkable rotational reorganization of the liquid-crystal film and its surface relief, which ultimately causes the rotation of submillimetre-sized particles on the film.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Features of a light-driven molecular motor

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Schliwa, M. (ed.) Molecular Motors (Wiley, Weinheim, 2003).

  2. Balzani, V., Venturi, M., Credi, A. Molecular Devices and Machines: A Journey into the Nanoworld (Wiley, Weinheim, 2004).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kelly, T. R., De Silva, H. & Silva, R. A. Nature 401, 150–152 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Koumura, N., Zijlstra, R. W. J., van Delden, R. A., Harada, N. & Feringa, B. L. Nature 401, 152–155 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Leigh, D. A., Wong, J. K. Y., Dehez, F. & Zerbetto, F. Nature 424, 174–179 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Liu, Y. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127, 9745–9759 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Koumura, N., Geertsema, E. M., Meetsma, A. & Feringa, B. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122, 12005–12006 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Dierking, I. Textures of Liquid Crystals (Wiley, Weinheim, 2003).

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organic and Molecular Inorganic Chemistry, Stratingh Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, The Netherlands

    Rienk Eelkema, Michael M. Pollard, Javier Vicario, Nathalie Katsonis & Ben L. Feringa

  2. Department of Polymer Technology, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, Eindhoven, 5600 MB, The Netherlands

    Blanca Serrano Ramon, Cees W. M. Bastiaansen & Dirk J. Broer

  3. Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Philips Research Laboratories, High Tech Campus 4, Eindhoven, 5656 AE, The Netherlands

    Dirk J. Broer

Authors
  1. Rienk Eelkema
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael M. Pollard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Javier Vicario
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nathalie Katsonis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. Blanca Serrano Ramon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  6. Cees W. M. Bastiaansen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  7. Dirk J. Broer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  8. Ben L. Feringa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ben L. Feringa.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary video 1

This video shows the rotational rearrangement of a liquid crystalline film doped with molecular motor 1, during irradiation with 365 nm light. The rotation is shown in real time. (QT 8022 kb)

Supplementary video 2a

This video shows the rotation of a glass rod on a liquid crystalline film doped with molecular motor 1, during irradiation with 365 nm light. This video was sped up eight times, to clarify the rotation movement of the object. (QT 3168 kb)

Supplementary video 2b

This video shows the same process as Supplementary Video 2a, in real time. (QT 8801 kb)

Supplementary information

(DOC 183 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eelkema, R., Pollard, M., Vicario, J. et al. Nanomotor rotates microscale objects. Nature 440, 163 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/440163a

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/440163a

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing