New 'hybrid engine' for biodegradable nanomotors that transport drugs to diseased tissue
Nanomotors are molecular or nanoscale devices that can move through a biological medium by converting chemical energy into motion, and can be used for the delivery of pharmaceutical drugs to specific parts of the body. Typically, nanomotors use biomolecules for propulsion. However, these molecules can suffer degradation when in the body. Researchers from the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems (ICMS) at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) along with researchers from Soochow University, Swansea University, and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have developed a new hybrid approach for biodegradable nanomotors where inorganic nanoparticles stored in the nanomotors help to propel the nanomotors. This study has been published in the journal Nano Letters.