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NANOTECHNOLOGY

When push comes to shove

Nature Chemistry volume 14, pages 125–128 (2022)Cite this article

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The adsorption of molecules onto a surface from solution generally proceeds spontaneously by means of an equilibrium process. Now, it has been shown that macrocycles can be pumped onto a MOF substrate through the formation of mechanical bonds in a ratcheting mechanism that results in an out-of-equilibrium state.

The adsorption of molecules or ions from a bulk solution onto solid surfaces is an essential process in many chemical, biological and environmental processes and technologies. In abiological systems, transport from solution to a surface is typically a passive process in which the species being adsorbed move spontaneously from regions of high to low concentration driven by van der Waals interactions (physisorption) and/or electronic interactions (chemisorption), eventually reaching an equilibrium state1. In contrast, biological systems use chemical energy to achieve active transport in which systems are pushed into out-of-equilibrium states, and substrates are transported against the concentration gradient from regions of low to high concentration2. Now, writing in Science, a team led by Fraser Stoddart and co-workers3 coin the term ‘mechanisorption’ to describe the active transport of adsorbates from solution onto the surface of a metal–organic framework (MOF) by using immobilized artificial molecular pumps.

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Fig. 1: Demonstration of a redox-driven molecular pump.
Fig. 2: Redox-driven mechanisorption on MOF nanosheets with organized molecular pumps.

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  1. Twitter: @Liangzhang1023

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Liang Zhang

  2. Shanghai Engineering Research Centre of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Liang Zhang

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  1. Liang Zhang
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Correspondence to Liang Zhang.

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Zhang, L. When push comes to shove. Nat. Chem. 14, 125–128 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00876-y

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