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RESEARCH FRONT
Contents Vol 59(3)

Artificial Molecular Motors Powered by Light

Alberto Credi A
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A Dipartimento di Chimica ‘G. Ciamician’, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy. Email: alberto.credi@unibo.it




Alberto Credi was born in 1970. He received his ‘Laurea’ (1994) from the University of Bologna where, after a research period in the United States, he also earned his Ph.D. (1999). He is currently associate professor of chemistry at his alma mater. He received several scientific awards, including the IUPAC Prize for young chemists, and co-authored more than one hundred scientific papers in the fields of molecular and supramolecular photochemistry and electrochemistry. He is also the co-author (together with V. Balzani and M. Venturi) of a monograph entitled Molecular Devices and Machines, and of a handbook of photochemistry.

Australian Journal of Chemistry 59(3) 157-169 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH06025
Submitted: 24 January 2006  Accepted: 22 February 2006   Published: 24 March 2006

Abstract

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.


Acknowledgments

I thank Vincenzo Balzani and Margherita Venturi for stimulating discussions, and J. Fraser Stoddart and his group for a long lasting and fruitful collaboration. Financial support from European Union (STREP ‘Biomach’ NMP2-CT-2003–505487) and the University of Bologna is gratefully acknowledged.


References


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