PNNL

Abstract

Synthetic molecular motors that are capable of delivering controlled movement upon energy input are one of the key building blocks in nanomachinery. The major energy sources of molecular motors are from chemical reactions, photon beams, or electric current, which are converted into mechanical forces through the excitation of the electronic states of the molecule. The energy scale of the electronic excitation is normally two orders of magnitude larger than the molecular vibrational frequencies. To reduce the heat dissipation and increase the energy utilization efficiency, a motor running purely on the electronic ground-state (GS) potential energy surfaces is highly desirable.