The first solar-powered miniature
machine has been created by researchers at Rome's La Sapienza
University in cooperation with the Italian Institute of
Technology (ITT) in Genoa.
The device for use in the biomedical field can transport
minuscule loads - including single cells - inside miniature
light-powered devices integrating one or several laboratory
functions on a chip measuring just a few millimeters.
The device is built with a minuscule 'wheel' the size of a
red blood cell, which is covered in a layer of light-absorbing
material suspended over a liquid surface.
The miniature machine converts solar into mechanical energy
and can reportedly perform up to 300 rotations per minute, even
with low-intensity light.
"The surface tension, which for example enables certain
species of insects to walk on water without piercing the
surface, becomes increasingly relevant in systems of smaller
dimensions," said study coordinator Roberto Di Leonardo, a
professor at the Sapienza School of Advanced Studies.
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