Fuel-free nanowire motors

Abstract

Techniques and systems are disclosed for locomoting fuel-free nanomotors in a fluid. In one aspect of the disclosed technology, a system for locomoting fuel-free nanomotors can include an electrically-driven nanowire diode formed of two or more segments of different electrically conducting materials, a fluid container, and a mechanism that produces an electric field to drive the nanowire diode to locomote in the fluid. In another aspect, a system for locomoting fuel-free nanomotors can include a magnetically-propelled multi-segment nanowire motor formed of a magnetic segment and a flexible joint segment, a fluid container, and a mechanism that generates and controls a magnetic field to drive the multi-segment nanowire motor to locomote in the fluid. The disclosed fuel-free nanomotors can obviate fuel requirements and can be implemented for practical in vitro and in vivo biomedical applications.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.