24th annual 3M/Ronald A. Mitsch Lecture in Chemistry

How Do You Make a Micro-Robot? - March 29, 2024

Guest lecturer: Thomas E. Mallouk, Vagelos Professor in Energy Research in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania.

Engines and motors are everywhere in the modern world, but it is a challenge to make them work if they are very small. On the micron length scale, inertial forces are weak, and conventional motor designs involving components such as pistons or flywheels cease to function.

Biological motors work by a different principle and use catalysis to convert chemical to mechanical energy on the nanometer length scale. Together with fellow professor of chemistry Ayusman Sen, as well as other colleagues at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pennsylvania, Mallouk and his colleagues have explored the concept of using catalysis to power synthetic nano- and microswimmers.

In his lecture, Professor Mallouk discuss the principles behind biological motors and their potential applications.