Project description
Making a paradigm shift in nanomotor development
Using chemical energy from active fuels, nanomotors with long-range and sustainable movement have promising biomedical applications. However, nanomotors are constrained by the potential side effects of active fuels and limited motion control. The ideal nanomotor would use biocompatible water as fuel to drive intelligent movement. Drawing inspiration from thylakoids, the EU-funded APSIM project aims to exploit artificial photosynthetic water splitting to drive intelligent movement of stomatocyte nanomotors. This work will lead to a paradigm shift in nanomotor development with controlled attributes driven by biocompatible resources and promote the development of high-efficiency artificial photosynthetic systems.
Objective
The discovery of first centimeter-sized chemical motors has brought great interest in the field of catalytic micro/nanomotors fabrication. By harnessing chemical energy from active fuels, nanomotors with long-range and sustainable movement have been achieved, promising their biomedical application. However, the potential side effect of active fuels and limited motion control still constrain the nanomotor field. Using biocompatible and abundant water as fuel to drive intelligent movement will enable an ideal nanomotor. The goal of this proposal is to exploit artificial photosynthetic water splitting to drive intelligent movement of stomatocyte nanomotor by taking inspiration from thylakoid, which has not been explored before. The highlight of this proposal is the compartmentalized immobilization of natural most efficient water oxidation catalyst, photosystem II and artificial metal-free water reduction catalyst, nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots on stomatocyte nanomotor to drive translational and rotational motion by catalysing artificial photosynthetic water splitting. Motion speed and direction can be individually controlled for intelligent movement by regulating the translational and rotational motion. Solar energy is simultaneously converted into chemical and kinetic energy by the artificial photosynthetic stomatocyte nanomotor. This design will be a paradigm shift for future nanomotor development with controlled attributes driven by biocompatible resources, and artificial photosynthetic system development with high efficiency. The project clearly links to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships work programme, which will diversify my individual competence in terms of skill acquisition through advanced training and international mobility together with strong two way transfer of knowledge.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands