EurekAlert October 28, 2020
Light-controlled molecular motors can be used to create functional materials, to provide autonomous motion or in systems that can respond on command. An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany) designed a rotary motor that is efficiently powered by near-infrared light, through adding an antenna to the motor molecule. Through a covalent bond, the motor molecule was linked to an ‘antenna’, which can absorb two near-infrared photons. The resulting excitation of the antenna is then passed on to the motor part of the molecule. For the system to work, the energy levels of the antenna and the motor had to be closely tuned. Therefore, molecular motor was designed that requires the exact amount of energy that the antenna provides for movement and the antenna was attached so it did not interfere in the motor’s rotation. The results represent an important milestone in the design of artificial molecular motors and offer many prospects for future applications, ranging from responsive materials to biomolecular systems, in vitro and in vivo applications…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Concept and design of NIR light–sensitized molecular motor. Credit: Science Advances 28 Oct 2020: Vol. 6, no. 44, eabb6165