Powering molecular machines photochemically
For the techies: If you could use some orientation on how energy can be supplied to molecular nanosystems, see this plenary lecture presented at the International Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry, titled Light-powered molecular-scale machines, published in Pure Appl. Chem.: "The most convenient way to supply energy to a molecular machine is through photochemical energy inputs."
February 23rd, 2005 at 3:09 PM
Best ways to supply energy.
It would be an error to assume that the best method to supply energy would be though photochemical processes unless one can state the material though which the photo-energy must travel is transparent. That is not true for many substances. Nanomedicine Vol I. goes into extensive detail with respect to energy sources including those which are acoustic and radioactive. Photochemical power resources are not high on the list. Photochemical power supplies while perhaps useful at the level of surface cells are unlikely to be useful at subdermal levels.
February 24th, 2005 at 4:04 AM
Re:Best ways to supply energy.
From reading this paper i had an idea: Is it theoretically possible to build a self-perpetuating (once set into motion) molecular machine? What do you think?
February 24th, 2005 at 7:27 AM
Re:Best ways to supply energy.
You could have a molecular machine that functions through the extraction of heat from the environment but one is going to have to have some other process that supplies that heat.
The thing to bear in mind is whether or not the operation the machine is performing tends to be reversible. There has been much work done in computer science showing that you can compute for free but you have to minimize erasing bits. It is the erasing of bits which generates entropy (heat). One can compute very cheaply if you run a calculation forwards, read the result, then run it backward so all of the "bits" are back where they started. So the question may be converted into a question of what is the molecular machine doing and does it erase "bits". (The bits being the information state of the environment in which it may be operating.)
One could, in theory, construct a computer that used the heat of the environment to operate in this way. It may not be particularly fast however. It is like the fact that one could get all of the oxygen molecules in a room to move to a side other than that in which you are sitting causing you to suffocate. It is going to take a long (*very long*) time for that to happen however.
February 24th, 2005 at 8:18 AM
I'm skeptical
I'd like to see how they explain those huge electron leaps between components. The Ru acceptor is connected by a 2-atom sp3 bridge to the rod, which obviously rules out resonance transfer. Similar one-atom bridges separate the other components. So how do those 2e leap over 2 nm from the Ru acceptor to A2? Maybe they are trying to get the molecule to fold in half, with some sort of substitution reaction going on? But then the ring would get in the way, and it certainly won't slide to A1 then.
February 25th, 2005 at 3:51 PM
A minor change:
Snip!
…..
titled Light-powered molecular-scale machines, published in Pure Appl. Chem.: "The most convenient way to supply energy to a molecular machine is through photochemical energy inputs."
********************
I propose the following edit:
"For _some_ applications _a_ convenient way to supply energy to a molecular machine _would_be_ through photochemical energy inputs."
You see, I supply energy to _my_ most personal application of nanotechnology by soaking it in a solution containing Glucose, and also some Oxygen weakly bound to hemoglobin molecules. Waste products are dumped back into the solution, filtered out, and (usually) conveniently disposed of.
The solution itself is miraculous stuff — not only does it simultaneously supply both fuel and oxygen, but it's also fire-retardant!
It also contains protective chemicals to prevent damage via superoxide degradation of certain infrastructure molecules I have become fond of, even quite attached to.
A – _hem_ ….
To be completely fair I have to admit that the fuel _precursors_ were all created photochemically inside of other applications, some of which do extensive intermediate processing (for which I give due thanks), and not inside my personal application at all, which gathers, prepares, and assimilates fuel several times a day (if I know what's good for me).
Today I brew, Tomorrow I bake
And then the royal child I'll take!
For little knows the royal dame
………..??
February 25th, 2005 at 11:23 PM
Sustainable empowerment by Environment
Programming the environmental cluster-matters to empower its intra capsular cluster-matters for performing the programming of its neighboring such unit and so on up to the target unit to perform an objected task, may be considered as a virtual mechanical task in molecular-scale. For practicality, this expression may be translated in integration with the Standard Model and the principles of chemistry. Hence the powering of Molecular-machines, is by the program-initialization of the system and that is the programmed addition of fractals at the input gates of the system.