Nanomotor: Harnessing Molecular Motion for Precision Biotechnology Applications

Chapter 1: Nanomotor

A device that can transform energy into movement on the molecular or nanoscale level is referred to as a nanomotor. It is capable of producing forces on the order of piconewtons in most cases.

Despite the fact that artists have been using nanoparticles for hundreds of years, similar as the one seen in the renowned cup of Lycurgus, Recent years have only seen a surge in the number of scientists doing research on nanotechnology.

In 1959, At the annual meeting of the American Physical Society that was held at Caltech, renowned physicist Richard Feynman delivered a lecture with the illustrious title There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom..

He went on to wage a scientific bet that no one person could design a motor smaller than 400 µm on any side.

However, William McLellan was the one who stood in the way of his plans, who created a nanomotor without devising any novel manufacturing techniques.

Nonetheless, A new generation of scientists has been motivated to undertake research into nanotechnology as a result of a lecture given by Richard Feynman.

Because of their potential to overcome the microfluidic dynamics that are produced at low Reynolds numbers, nanomotors have been the focus of study in recent years. According to the Scallop Theory, nanomotors have to breach symmetry in order to achieve motion at low Reynolds numbers. Brownian motion is another phenomenon that must be taken into account since the interaction between particles and solvents may have a significant bearing on a nanomotor's capacity to move through a liquid. When it comes to the creation of new nanomotors, this may provide a substantial challenge. The research being done on nanomotors today aims to find solutions to these issues, which, if successful, would either make existing microfluidic devices more effective or inspire the development of whole new technologies.

Microfluidic dynamics at low Reynolds numbers have been the subject of much study in an effort to find a solution. Before nanomotors may be employed for theranostic applications inside the body, the most urgent task now is to solve obstacles like as biocompatibility, control on directionality, and availability of fuel.

In 2004, Ayusman Sen and Thomas E. Mallouk created the world's first synthetic nanomotor that could operate on its own.

Since 2004, a variety of nano- and micromotors with a wide range of forms have been produced, in addition to motors based on nanotubes and nanowires. The study of catalytic nanomotors in the future offers a great deal of potential for a wide variety of essential cargo-towing applications, ranging from cell sorting microchip devices to guided medication administration.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the amount of research conducted towards the creation of enzymatic nanomotors and micropumps. Single-molecule enzymes may function as self-sufficient nanomotors if the Reynold's number was sufficiently low.

The incorporation of molecular motor proteins that are discovered in live cells into artificial molecular motors that are implanted in artificial devices is a line of inquiry that has been suggested. Through the use of protein dynamics, such a motor protein would be able to transport a cargo inside of that device. This would be analogous to the way in which kinesin moves different molecules along the tracks of microtubules seen inside of cells. Caging the ATP inside molecular structures that are sensitive to UV light would be required in order to initiate and terminate the movement of such motor proteins. Therefore, pulses of UV radiation would result in pulses of movement being produced. In response to a variety of stimuli from the outside world, DNA nanomachines that are based on transitions between two different molecular conformations of DNA have also been identified.

An further fascinating line of investigation has resulted in the development of helical silica particles that have been coated with magnetic components. These particles can be controlled by a revolving magnetic field.

These types of nanomotors do not rely on chemical processes to provide the fuel for the propulsion. In outer space, a directed rotating field may be produced by using a triaxial Helmholtz coil. Recent research has shown how nanomotors of this kind may be used to detect the viscosity of non-Newtonian fluids with a precision of only a few microns.

Fenimore et al. reported the experimental realization of a prototype current-driven nanomotor in the year 2003. [Citation needed] [Citation needed] These are some instances of molecular motors, which are also known as nanomotors.

Because of their very tiny size, several nanomotors rely heavily on quantum mechanics for their operation. In the year 2020, for instance, Stolz and colleagues demonstrated the transition from classical motion to quantum tunneling in a nanomotor consisting of a spinning molecule that was powered by the current of an STM. In this particular instance, the nanomotors are referred to as adiabatic quantum motors, and it was shown that the quantum nature of electrons may be used to increase the performance of the devices.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Carbon nanotube

The diameter of a carbon nanotube, also known as a CNT, is commonly measured in nanometers. This kind of tube is formed of carbon.

Nanotubes made of single-walled carbon (SWCNTs) One of the allotropes of carbon is known as single-wall carbon nanotubes. These nanotubes have a diameter in the region of one nanometer, placing them in the middle ground between fullerene cages and flat graphene. Single-wall carbon nanotubes can be idealized as cutouts from a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms that are rolled up along one of the Bravais lattice vectors of the hexagonal lattice to form a hollow cylinder. However, this is not the way that single-wall carbon nanotubes are actually manufactured. In this particular design, periodic boundary requirements are applied throughout the length of this roll-up vector in order to produce a helical lattice of carbon atoms that are linked together flawlessly on the surface of the cylinder. The terms double-wall and triple-wall carbon nanotubes may also be used interchangeably when referring to multi-wall carbon nanotubes.

The phrase carbon nanotubes may also be used to refer to tubes that have widths of fewer than 100 nanometers and an unknown wall structure made of carbon. Radushkevich and Lukyanovich were the ones that made this discovery in the year 1952.

Although it is not always published, the length of a carbon nanotube that was created using conventional manufacturing techniques often has a diameter that is much bigger than it. Therefore, end effects are not taken into consideration for most applications, and the length of carbon nanotubes is believed to be endless.

These qualities are projected to be useful in many fields of technology, including electronics, optics, composite materials (replacing or complementing carbon fibers), nanotechnology, and other applications of materials science. Carbon nanotubes are able to demonstrate extraordinary electrical conductivity.

The formation of different infinitely long single-wall carbon nanotubes by rolling up a hexagonal lattice along different directions demonstrates that all of these tubes not only have helical symmetry but also translational symmetry along the tube axis, and many of these tubes also have nontrivial rotational symmetry about this axis. Furthermore, the majority of tubes are chiral, which means that the tube and its mirror counterpart cannot be overlaid. This structure also makes it possible to identify single-wall carbon nanotubes with a pair of integers, and it was the impetus for a flurry of activity aimed at characterizing SWCNTs and discovering new uses for