Scientists create a microscopic motor

process of making microscopic motor                    

Have you ever heard of microscopic motor? If not, then now you can use microscopic motor to run vehicles.Scientists at Tufts have developed the world's smallest electric motor made from a single molecule, a development that may potentially create a new class of devices with applications ranging from medicine to engineering.

molecules seen in microscope

                                             
The microscopic motor is only 1 nanometre across and would beat the current record for the smallest electric motor at 200 nanometre.With the help of scanning tunneling microscope, H.Sykes associate professor of chemistry at Tufts and his colleagues were able to land on a single molecule and then measure it and spin it. They used the metal tip of the microscope to provide an electrical charge to a butyl methyl sulfide molecule that had been placed on a copper surface.This molecule has carbon and hydrogen atoms radiating from it to form what look like two arms, with four carbons on one side and one on the other. These carbon chains were free to rotate around the sulphur-copper bond at speeds of up to 120 rpm. Scientists founded that a freezing minus 268 degrees celsius proved ideal for tracking the motor's motion as direction and speed were affected by temperature. 

At higher temperatures, the motor spins much faster, making it difficult to measure and control the rotation. For rise in temperature the motor spins much faster,far beyond the ability of the scientists to measure the rotations and at 100K a molecular motor spins more than a million times per second . Scientists have modified the molecule slightly and the molecular electric motors could be used to generate microwave radiation or known as nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS). After this process the molecules are to be lined up next to one another such that they are like miniature cog- wheels and at last the rotation propagation down is to be checked.Now we could get the world's smallest microscopic motor to run equipments.                                                                                                                        

[via BBC news]

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