This is the first synthetic molecular motor made. Three legs bind the motor to a substrate, while the dipolar or zwitterionic arms will be driven by an applied electric field. Both linear and rotary actuators are planned for synthesis and testing in our laboratories.
This molecule was synthesized at the University of South Carolina by Jim Tour and his group.
The synthetic molecular motors that we design, synthesize, and test are different than all other artificial motors in that they are monolithic. There are no unknown internal interfaces. Thus, we can predict and test the fundamental basis of motor function with calculations based on quantum chemistry, but stretching all the way up to engineering predictions.
We will drive our synthetic molecular motors with electric fields on the order of 106 V/cm using electrodes placed on a substrate using conventional micro/nanolithography. This will allow us to control the orientation of the molecule in a predicted manner. We will use scanning tunneling microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and optical trapping to follow the function of the motors and to measure the force that they can apply. The motors will be driven against the applied load of viscous fluids and will be run at frequencies up into the GHz. These measurements will be compared quantitatively to calculations and simuations that we also perform.