Researchers Create The World’s 1st Functional Molecular Robot
Researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK have reached a new milestone in nanotechnology. They’ve developed a robot so small, it operates on the molecular level. The world’s first molecular robot has an arm which can manipulate individual molecules or move them in clusters.
The results of this study were published in the journal Nature.
The thing is a millionth of a millimeter in size. To give you an idea of the scale we’re talking about, one quintillion (a billion billion) of them piled together would be about equal to a few grains of salt. Each machine is comprised of 150 atoms. That includes carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. Though small, these machines could offer us incredible capabilities, such as to work in tiny, molecular factories, in order to manufacture the next generation of materials and products.
Nanocar created at Rice University. Edumol, Molecular Visualizations. Wikimedia Commons.
Certain biological processes move atoms individually or in clusters all the time to serve an organism’s needs. Previous to this study, some experts argued that doing so artificially was all but impossible. Professor David Leigh of the university’s School of Chemistry led the study. He called this, “the ultimate in the miniaturization of machinery.” The chemist explained how he and his team approached the project.
Leigh said,
Our robot is literally a molecular robot constructed of atoms just like you can build a very simple robot out of Lego bricks. The robot then responds to a series of simple commands that are programmed with chemical inputs by a scientist. It is similar to the way robots are used on a car assembly line. Those robots pick up a panel and position it so that it can be riveted in the correct way to build the bodywork of a car. So, just like the robot in the factory, our molecular version can be programmed to position and rivet components in different ways to build different products, just on a much smaller scale, at a molecular level.
While most nanobots are extremely complex to build, this one operated on simple, well understood chemical processes. Prof Leigh said “This is the science of how atoms and molecules react with each other and how larger molecules are constructed from smaller ones.” He added, “It is the same sort of process scientists use to make medicines and plastics from simple chemical building blocks. Then, once the nano-robots have been constructed, they are operated by scientists by adding chemical inputs which tell the robots what to do and when, just like a computer program.”
Detailed visualization of the molecular robot. Nature.
The cost of materials, particularly to make electronics, is going through the roof. The beauty in using such robots instead of life-sized equipment is that everything operates on such a small scale, once the price of the actual tech comes down, it’ll make the ability to create materials more cost-effective. It could also improve the quality of products. It may even help increase the rate of miniaturization. We’ll be able to make smaller, more agile devices more easily. Such a robot could also help improve the process of discovering new drugs as well.
“Our aim is to design and make the smallest machines possible,” Prof. Leigh said. “This is just the start but we anticipate that within 10 to 20 years molecular robots will begin to be used to build molecules and materials on assembly lines in molecular factories.”
Do Remember to Subscribe us.. for cool stuff like this 😎
 |
| Nanocar created at Rice University. Edumol, Molecular Visualizations. Wikimedia Commons. |
Researchers at the University of Manchester in the UK have reached a new milestone in nanotechnology. They’ve developed a robot so small, it operates on the molecular level. The world’s first molecular robot has an arm which can manipulate individual molecules or move them in clusters.
The results of this study were published in the journal Nature.
The thing is a millionth of a millimeter in size. To give you an idea of the scale we’re talking about, one quintillion (a billion billion) of them piled together would be about equal to a few grains of salt. Each machine is comprised of 150 atoms. That includes carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. Though small, these machines could offer us incredible capabilities, such as to work in tiny, molecular factories, in order to manufacture the next generation of materials and products.
Nanocar created at Rice University. Edumol, Molecular Visualizations. Wikimedia Commons.
Certain biological processes move atoms individually or in clusters all the time to serve an organism’s needs. Previous to this study, some experts argued that doing so artificially was all but impossible. Professor David Leigh of the university’s School of Chemistry led the study. He called this, “the ultimate in the miniaturization of machinery.” The chemist explained how he and his team approached the project.
Leigh said,
Our robot is literally a molecular robot constructed of atoms just like you can build a very simple robot out of Lego bricks. The robot then responds to a series of simple commands that are programmed with chemical inputs by a scientist. It is similar to the way robots are used on a car assembly line. Those robots pick up a panel and position it so that it can be riveted in the correct way to build the bodywork of a car. So, just like the robot in the factory, our molecular version can be programmed to position and rivet components in different ways to build different products, just on a much smaller scale, at a molecular level.
While most nanobots are extremely complex to build, this one operated on simple, well understood chemical processes. Prof Leigh said “This is the science of how atoms and molecules react with each other and how larger molecules are constructed from smaller ones.” He added, “It is the same sort of process scientists use to make medicines and plastics from simple chemical building blocks. Then, once the nano-robots have been constructed, they are operated by scientists by adding chemical inputs which tell the robots what to do and when, just like a computer program.”
Detailed visualization of the molecular robot. Nature.
The cost of materials, particularly to make electronics, is going through the roof. The beauty in using such robots instead of life-sized equipment is that everything operates on such a small scale, once the price of the actual tech comes down, it’ll make the ability to create materials more cost-effective. It could also improve the quality of products. It may even help increase the rate of miniaturization. We’ll be able to make smaller, more agile devices more easily. Such a robot could also help improve the process of discovering new drugs as well.
“Our aim is to design and make the smallest machines possible,” Prof. Leigh said. “This is just the start but we anticipate that within 10 to 20 years molecular robots will begin to be used to build molecules and materials on assembly lines in molecular factories.”
Do Remember to Subscribe us.. for cool stuff like this 😎
No comments:
Post a Comment