Designing catalytic nanomotors by dynamic shadowing growth

Using a geometric shadowing effect, a thin catalyst layer can be coated asymmetrically on the side of a nanorod backbone. Combining with substrate rotation, a dynamic shadowing growth technique has been developed to fabricate catalytic nanomotors such as rotary Si/Pt nanorods, rotary L-shaped Si/Pt and Si/Ag nanorods, and rolling Si/Ag nanosprings, and their autonomous motions have been demonstrated in a diluted H2O2 solution. This fabrication method reveals an optimistic step toward designing integrated nanomachines.