Artificial molecular motors

Motor proteins are nature's solution for directing movement at the molecular level. The field of artificial molecular motors takes inspiration from these tiny but powerful machines. Although directional motion on the nanoscale performed by synthetic molecular machines is a relatively new development, significant advances have been made. In this review an overview is given of the principal designs of artificial molecular motors and their modes of operation. Although synthetic molecular motors have also found widespread application as (multistate) switches, we focus on the control of directional movement, both at the molecular scale and at larger magnitudes. We identify some key challenges remaining in the…

• RS
  Royal Society
• KN
  Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen

  Award: Gravitation programme 0024.001.0035
• NO
  Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
• NN
  Novo Nordisk
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

  Awards: EP/H021620/1&2, EP/H021620/2
• HE
  H2020 European Research Council

  Award: AIG 694345 and 339019