New mechanisms that transduce chemical potential into work are needed to advance the field of nanotechnology, with the ATP-fueled archaeal flagellar rotational motor being the ultimate inspiration. We describe microns-long ribbons assembled from small peptides that catalyze the conversion of a nanometer-sized molecular fuel. This conversion drives a morphological transition of the flat nanoribbons into helical ones and eventually into tubes, which makes the ribbons spin. Remarkably, the spinning speed and directionality can be tuned by molecular design. Moreover, the nanoribbons exert pN forces on their surroundings, allowing them to push micron-sized objects or even crawl. Our work demonstrates a new mechanism by which chemical energy at the nanometer level is used to power micron-sized machinery. We envision such new mechanisms opening the door to micro- and nanoscale autonomous machines.

中文翻译：

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合成鞭毛以牺牲化学燃料为代价旋转和收缩


需要将化学潜力转化为工作的新机制来推动纳米技术领域的发展，ATP 驱动的古细菌鞭毛旋转电机是最终的灵感来源。我们描述了由小肽组装而成的微米级带状物，这些肽催化纳米级分子燃料的转化。这种转化驱动扁平纳米带向螺旋纳米带的形态转变，并最终变成管状，从而使带状纳米带旋转。值得注意的是，旋转速度和方向性可以通过分子设计进行调整。此外，纳米带对其周围环境施加 pN 力，使它们能够推动微米级物体甚至爬行。我们的工作展示了一种新的机制，通过该机制，纳米级的化学能被用来为微米级的机械提供动力。我们设想这种新机制为微米和纳米级自主机器打开大门。