Artificial Molecular Motors Powered by Light

2006 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Credi
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Molecular Size ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Light Energy ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
Photochemical Processes ◽  
Autonomous Operation

The bottom-up construction and operation of machines and motors of molecular size is a topic of great interest in nanoscience, and a fascinating challenge of nanotechnology. The problem of the energy supply to make molecular motors work is of the greatest importance. Research in the last ten years has demonstrated that light energy can indeed be used to power artificial nanomotors by exploiting photochemical processes in appropriately designed systems. More recently, it has become clear that under many aspects light is the best choice to power molecular motors; for example, systems that show autonomous operation and do not generate waste products can be obtained. This review is intended to discuss the design principles at the basis of light-driven artificial nanomotors, and provide an up-to-date overview on the prototype systems that have been developed.

scholarly journals Molecular machines operated by light

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Credi ◽  
Margherita Venturi
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Chemical Reactions ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Molecular Size ◽  
Molecular Machines ◽  
Spectroscopic Methods ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Photochemical Processes ◽  
Biological World ◽  
Light Excitation

AbstractThe bottom-up construction and operation of machines and motors of molecular size is a topic of great interest in nanoscience, and a fascinating challenge of nanotechnology. Researchers in this field are stimulated and inspired by the outstanding progress of molecular biology that has begun to reveal the secrets of the natural nanomachines which constitute the material base of life. Like their macroscopic counterparts, nanoscale machines need energy to operate. Most molecular motors of the biological world are fueled by chemical reactions, but research in the last fifteen years has demonstrated that light energy can be used to power nanomachines by exploiting photochemical processes in appropriately designed artificial systems. As a matter of fact, light excitation exhibits several advantages with regard to the operation of the machine, and can also be used to monitor its state through spectroscopic methods. In this review we will illustrate the design principles at the basis of photochemically driven molecular machines, and we will describe a few examples based on rotaxane-type structures investigated in our laboratories.

Renewable Energy in the United Kingdom

1995 ◽  
Vol 209 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Laughton
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Supply Systems

The United Kingdom is particularly well endowed with renewable energy sources relating to wind, waves and tide as well as the normal waste products arising from an industrialized society. These and other renewable energy sources have much technological scope for development but less scope for economic use. Government support for these industries has been significant in recent years in allowing a number of schemes to become commercially possible. The technologies are diverse, the design engineering is in its early stages in many cases and the extent of the eventual integration of such energy sources into existing energy supply systems is not easy to foresee. Aspects of the economic, institutional and environmental factors influencing the exploitation of renewable energy sources for electricity generation are reviewed along with an assessment of the present developments in the various technologies. The need for further support within a long-term view of the whole energy supply scene is stressed as necessary to balance shorter-term commercial considerations.

scholarly journals Application of repurposing in design education within the framework of sustainable design approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-66
Author(s):  
Aysem G. Basar ◽  
Pinar Cartier
Keyword(s):  
Design Education ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Sustainable Design ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Academic Program ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
Sustainability Concept ◽  
Education Process

The development of the sustainability concept began primarily in the European continent. Its integration into lifestyles and with it, the increase of social awareness, were formed with the contributions of various NGOs. In this context, we see the contribution of integrating sustainable design principles into the academic program. The factors that are important in sustainable design such as lower usage of raw materials, environmentally friendly materials, convenience in production and assembly, energy consumption, and ease of recycling are conveyed to the students through various courses in the academic program. A case study was carried out to analyze the transfer of sustainable design principles to the education process and its implications. This research was carried out in three stages: creating a theoretical framework, fieldwork, and practical work with students who attended the Sustainable Design course. According to the results students create new designs before recycling waste products within the scope of repurposing concept.   Keywords: Repurposing, sustainability, industrial design, education, application    

Robust top-down and bottom-up visual saliency for mobile robots using bio-inspired design principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uziel Jaramillo-Avila ◽  
Jonathan M. Aitken ◽  
Kevin Gurney ◽  
Sean R. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Robots ◽  
Visual Saliency ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up

Track-walking molecular motors: a new generation beyond bridge-burning designs

Nanoscale ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 9240-9263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhisong Wang ◽  
Ruizheng Hou ◽  
Iong Ying Loh
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Synthesis ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Technological Capability ◽  
Assembly Lines ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
The Core ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Molecular Robots ◽  
Nanoscale Assembly

Track-walking molecular motors are the core bottom-up mechanism for nanometre-resolved translational movements – a fundamental technological capability at the root of numerous applications ranging from nanoscale assembly lines and chemical synthesis to molecular robots and shape-changing materials.

scholarly journals Maximizing the Adjacent Possible in Automata Chemistries

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hickinbotham ◽  
Edward Clark ◽  
Adam Nellis ◽  
Susan Stepney ◽  
Tim Clarke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
Abstract Model ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Careful Design

Automata chemistries are good vehicles for experimentation in open-ended evolution, but they are by necessity complex systems whose low-level properties require careful design. To aid the process of designing automata chemistries, we develop an abstract model that classifies the features of a chemistry from a physical (bottom up) perspective and from a biological (top down) perspective. There are two levels: things that can evolve, and things that cannot. We equate the evolving level with biology and the non-evolving level with physics. We design our initial organisms in the biology, so they can evolve. We design the physics to facilitate evolvable biologies. This architecture leads to a set of design principles that should be observed when creating an instantiation of the architecture. These principles are Everything Evolves, Everything's Soft, and Everything Dies. To evaluate these ideas, we present experiments in the recently developed Stringmol automata chemistry. We examine the properties of Stringmol with respect to the principles, and so demonstrate the usefulness of the principles in designing automata chemistries.

scholarly journals Institutional approaches for plant health provision as a collective action problem

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Garcia-Figuera ◽  
Elizabeth E. Grafton-Cardwell ◽  
Bruce A. Babcock ◽  
Mark N. Lubell ◽  
Neil McRoberts
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Design Principles ◽  
The United States ◽  
Plant Diseases ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Collective Action Problem ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Global Food Security

AbstractThe provision of plant health has public good attributes when nobody can be excluded from enjoying its benefits and individual benefits do not reduce the ability of others to also benefit. These attributes increase risk of free-riding on plant health services provided by others, giving rise to a collective action problem when trying to ensure plant health in a region threatened by an emerging plant disease. This problem has traditionally been addressed by government intervention, but top-down approaches to plant health are often insufficient and are increasingly combined with bottom-up approaches that promote self-organization by affected individuals. The challenge is how to design plant health institutions that effectively deal with the spatial and temporal dynamics of plant diseases, while staying aligned with the preferences, values and needs of affected societies. Here, we illustrate how Ostrom’s design principles for collective action can be used to guide the incorporation of bottom-up approaches to plant health governance in order to improve institutional fit. Using the ongoing epidemic of huanglongbing (HLB) as a case study, we examine existing institutions designed to ensure citrus health under HLB in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Argentina, and discuss potential implications of Ostrom’s design principles for the collective provision of plant health under HLB and other plant diseases that are threatening food security worldwide. The discussion leads to an outline for the interdisciplinary research agenda that would be needed to establish the link between institutional approaches and plant health outcomes in the context of global food security.

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