APPROACHING EFFICIENT NANOMOTORS VIA BIOMIMICKING MECHANISMS

Abstract

Advances in nanotechnology necessitate nanomachines to perform a variety of tasks. Thriving multidisciplinary endeavours have been made to develop nanomachines that convert externally supplied energy into directional mechanical outputs such as force generation, translation, and rotation. How to control individual components of a machine to produce directional output of the machine as a whole remains an intriguing problem both scientifically and technologically. Nature has provided fabulous model systems from which we could learn from. Biological motor proteins play an essential role in a wide range of cellular functions; particularly noteworthy is the high energy efficiency they achieve. Biomimicking is an important strategy to advance the field of artificial nanomotors, which is the focus of this PhD study. In my thesis, I will report several advancements along this direction.