single-molecule “nanoroadsters” tagged posts

A scanning tunneling microscope image shows two three-wheeled nanoroadsters created at Rice University and tested at the University of Graz. The light-activated roadsters, next to their molecular models, reached a top speed of 23 nanometers per hour. Credit: Alex Saywell/Leonhard Grill

Scientists are driving 3-wheeled, single-molecule “nanoroadsters” with light and, for the first time, seeing how they move. The Rice lab of nanocar inventor and chemist James Tour synthesized light-driven nanocars 6 years ago, but with the aid of experimental physicists in Austria, they’re now able to drive fleets of single-molecule vehicles at once...