High-Performance Artificial Micro/Nanomachines and Their Bioapplications

Jianhe Guo, Ph.D.

[Abstract]

Artificial micro/nanomachines are micrometer or nanometer scale mechanical devices that convert diverse energy sources into controlled mechanical motions. The development and applications of these micro/nanomachines are among the most pressing challenges in the research field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.

In this talk, innovative designs and operations of artificial micro/nanomachines will be presented for bioapplications in biochemical sensing, biomolecule capture, drug delivery and release. Based on the electric manipulations, innovative rotary nanomotors are bottom-up assembled with high efficiency from nanoscale building blocks, which are massively fabricated and less than 1 μm in all dimensions. After assembling, the rotary nanomotors achieve an ultrafast speed up to 18,000 rpm, an ultradurable operation lifetime of 80 hours and over 1.1 million rotation cycles. To explore diverse alternative energy inputs for nanomotors, we also applied electric field in the guided manipulation of chemical nanomotors. The prowess of the electric manipulation on chemical nanomotors is demonstrated in the applications of cargo delivery to designated microdocks and assembly of chemical nanomotors for powering rotary nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) devices. To integrate the function of Raman sensing on the micro/nanomachines, plasmonic micromotors and bio-opto-plasmonic micromotors are designed and fabricated, which provide ultrasensitive detection of biochemicals by Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The plasmonic micromotors can precisely locate a single bacteria and analyst the composition of its cell wall. Active manipulation and tunable release of molecules are also achieved in electric fields due to the induced electrokinetic effect. The bio-photonic-plasmonic micromotors based on biosilica diatom frustules are applied in the capture and detection of DNA molecules, which are significantly accelerated during the rotation of the micromotors. The innovations of artificial micro/nanomachines including concept, design, fabrication, manipulation, and bioapplications, are expected to inspire various research areas including NEMS, nanorobotics, microfluidics, biochemical delivery, and diagnostic sensing.

[Biography]

Jianhe Guo is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Texas Materials Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his bachelor's degree in Materials Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2012 and his PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on design, fabrication and bioapplications of micro/nanomachines, nanosensors, microfluidics, and nanomaterials. His work of nanomotors was selected as selected as #3 of "10 Discoveries That Will Shape the Future" in 2014 by BBC Focus, was selected as a finalist for 2015 SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards, and was featured in the science film "Nanotechnology: Super Small Science" produced by NBC Learn and NSF. He received numerous prestigious awards, including HHMI International Student Research Fellowship, Harris L. Marcus Graduate Fellowship, MRS Graduate Student Award, GRC Graduate Student Academic Scholarship, ASME-NSF Student Travel Award, MRS Symposium Best Poster Award.