Fuel-free nanowire motors
View Patent ↗Techniques and systems are disclosed for locomoting fuel-free nanomotors in a fluid. In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a system for locomoting fuel-free nanomotors can include an electrically-driven nanowire diode formed of two or more segments of different electrically conducting materials, a fluid container, and a mechanism that produces an electric field to drive the nanowire diode to locomote in the fluid. In another aspect, a system for locomoting fuel-free nanomotors can include a magnetically-propelled multi-segment nanowire motor formed of a magnetic segment and a flexible joint segment, a fluid container, and a mechanism that generates and controls a magnetic field to drive the multi-segment nanowire motor to locomote in the fluid. The disclosed fuel-free nanomotors can obviate fuel requirements and can be implemented for practical in vitro and in vivo biomedical applications.
1. A system for locomoting a nanostructure, comprising:
a nanostructure configured as a nanowire diode formed of two or more segments of different electrically conducting materials;
a container that contains a fluid surrounding the nanostructure; and
a mechanism that produces an electric field in the fluid that drives the nanostructure to locomote in the fluid.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the nanostructure locomotes in the fluid substantially free of a chemical reaction with the two or more segments of the nanostructure.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the nanowire diode comprises at least one semiconductor segment and a conductor segment.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one semiconductor segment comprises a polypyrrole (PPy) segment and the conductor segment comprises a cadmium (Cd) segment.
5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one semiconductor segment comprises a cadmium selenide (CdSe) segment and the conductor segment comprises a gold (Au) segment.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mechanism for producing an electric field includes electrodes and an AC signal source coupled to the electrodes.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the electric field comprises an alternating electric field that is at least one of a uniform alternating electric field or a non-uniform alternating electric field.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid comprises at least one of pure water, salt concentrated water, and biological fluid.
9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a system for tracking a locomotion pattern of the nanostructure in the fluid.
10. A system for locomoting a nanostructure, comprising:
a nanostructure configured as a multi-segment nanowire formed of a joint segment that includes a flexible material and a propeller segment that includes a magnetic material;
a container that contains a fluid surrounding the nanostructure; and
a mechanism that generates and controls a magnetic field in the fluid that drives the nanostructure to locomote in the fluid.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the nanostructure locomotes in the fluid substantially free of a chemical reaction with the multi-segment nanowire.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the magnetic field comprises a rotational magnetic field that rotates the propeller segment, thereby creating a controlled elastic deformation of the joint segment in an asymmetrical manner, whereby the magnetic field drives the nanostructure to locomote in the fluid.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the joint segment comprises at least one of a metal or a polymeric material.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the joint segment comprises a flexible silver (Ag) or polymer segment, and the propeller segment comprises a nickel (Ni) or iron oxide (Fe 2 O 3 ) segment.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the mechanism for producing a magnetic field includes at least one of a rotating magnet that produces a rotational magnetic field and a static magnet that produces a static magnetic field.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the multi-segment nanowire further includes a head segment.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the head segment comprises a gold (Au) segment.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the head segment and the propeller segment are configured to each have a particular length for a direction control of the nanostructure to locomote in the fluid.
19. The system of claim 10 , wherein the mechanism for producing a magnetic field is modulated for an on/off control and a direction control of the nanostructure to locomote in the fluid.
20. The system of claim 10 , wherein the fluid comprises at least one of pure water, salt concentrated water, and biological fluid.
21. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a system for tracking a locomotion pattern of the nanostructure in the fluid.
22. A nanowire diode that locomotes in a fluid under an electric field, comprising:
two or more segments formed of at least one semiconductor segment and a conductor segment that are structured and interfaced to form a diode that interacts with an external electric field to locomote in a fluid while being substantially free of a chemical reaction with the two or more segments of the nanowire diode.
23. A nanowire that locomotes in a fluid under a magnetic field, comprising:
two or more segments coupled to allow motion relative to one another, wherein at least one segment is formed of a magnetic material and at least one segment is formed of a flexible material that moves relative to the magnetic material when the magnetic material interacts with an external magnetic field to cause locomotion of the nanowire in a fluid substantially free of a chemical reaction with the two or more segments of the nanowire.