The Rice University lab of chemist James Tour has created single-molecule, 244-atom submersibles with motors powered by ultraviolet light.
With each full revolution, the motor’s tail-like propeller moves the sub forward 18 nanometers, but with the motors running at more than a million RPM, that translates into almost 1 inch per second — a breakneck pace on the molecular scale.Rice’s researchers hope future nanosubs will be able to carry cargoes for medical and other purposes.
A molecular light-driven nanosubmarine
