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Dream Nanomachines
Author(s) -
Ozin G. A.,
Manners I.,
FournierBidoz S.,
Arsenault A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200501767
Subject(s) - nanotechnology , microfluidics , dream , materials science , task (project management) , nanoscopic scale , molecular machine , computer science , systems engineering , engineering , neuroscience , biology
Locomotion on the nanoscale through a fluid environment is one of the grand challenges confronting nanoscience today. The vision is to synthesize, probe, understand, and utilize a new class of motors made from nanoscale building blocks that derive on‐board or off‐board power from in‐situ chemical reactions. The generated mechanical work allows these motors to move through a fluid phase while simultaneously or sequentially performing a task or series of tasks. Such tiny machines, individually or assembled into designed architectures, might someday transport medicine in the human body, conduct operations in cells, move cargo around microfluidic chips, manage light beams, agitate liquids close to electrode surfaces, and search for and destroy toxic organic molecules in polluted water streams. Are these just “ nanomachine dreams ”, or “ dream nanomachines ”? Some very recent exciting developments suggest that a world of amazing chemically powered nanomachines will be the way the story unfolds in the not‐too‐distant future!