Unidirectional rotation of micromotors on water powered by pH-controlled disassembly of chiral molecular crystals.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37208331.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-38308-9 and PMC identifier 10198998.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Biological and synthetic molecular motors, fueled by various physical and chemical means, can perform asymmetric linear and rotary motions that are inherently related to their asymmetric shapes. Here, we describe silver-organic micro-complexes of random shapes that exhibit macroscopic unidirectional rotation on water surface through the asymmetric release of cinchonine or cinchonidine chiral molecules from their crystallites asymmetrically adsorbed on the complex surfaces. Computational modeling indicates that the motor rotation is driven by a pH-controlled asymmetric jet-like Coulombic ejection of chiral molecules upon their protonation in water. The motor is capable of towing very large cargo, and its rotation can be accelerated by adding reducing agents to the water.