Electrostatically Driven Nanoballoon Actuator, Nano Letters (2016). http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b02394
Molecular sized machines could in the future be used to control important mechanisms in the body. In a recent study, researchers at University of California, Berkeley and Umeå University show how a nanoballoon comprising a single carbon molecule can be controlled electrostatically to switch between an inflated and a collapsed state. Inflatable balloon actuators are commonly used for macroscopic applications to lift buildings, as impact protection in cars or to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins. At the micro scale they are used as micro pumps and in nature jumping spiders create microformat fluid-filled cushions to power their legs in explosive jumps.
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