Powering Molecular Motors with Light Across the Rainbow Using Quantum Dots.

ABSTRACT: Overcrowded alkene-based molecular motors have high potential in building artificial molecular machines, precise drug delivery, and smart responsive materials due to their unidirectional rotation at the molecular scale under UV light. Powering molecular motors with visible light, especially in the low-energy green, yellow, and red regions, has been a significant challenge, limiting their further application. Herein, we report a general and versatile strategy to overcome this challenge and drive molecular motors using low-energy, low-intensity, noncoherent light across the visible spectrum. Our approach is achieved by simply mixing molecular motors with semiconductor colloidal quantum dots (QDs) and a triplet mediator (9-anthracenecarboxylic acid). The size-tunable absorption of QDs can pre

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12498390 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature