Berlin 2024 – scientific programme
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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik
O 47: Metal Substrates I
O 47.3: Topical Talk
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 11:00–11:30, MA 043
Adsorbate motors for unidirectional translation and transport — •Grant J. Simpson1, Mats Persson2, and Leonhard Grill1 — 1University of Graz, Graz, Austria — 2University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Inspired by their biological counterparts, artificial molecular motors aim to convert external energy into unidirectional motion. However, despite having some form of inherent directionality imprinted into their chemical structure, synthetic motors often lose functionality when taken from their native aqueous phase and deposited onto a metallic surface. Here, we demonstrate a new concept in molecular motors which uses a small and simple chemical structure to achieve perfect unidirectionality when deposited onto a Cu(110) surface [1]. The motion is observed and quantified using scanning tunnelling microscopy and is shown to be triggered by an intramolecular proton transfer. We further demonstrate that this unidirectional motion can be harnessed to perform meaningful work by transporting small cargo molecules across the surface.
[1] G. J. Simpson, M. Persson, L. Grill, Nature, 621, 82-86 (2023)
Keywords: Scanning tunneling microscopy; Molecular motor; Metal surface; Single molecule; Unidirectional