Smallest nanotube jet engine

The smallest jet engine is 220 nm (0.0000086614 in), achieved by Xing Ma (China) and Samuel Sánchez (Spain), demonstrated in Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Institution, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on 9 October 2016.

The 'engine' is actually a nanotube, powered by an enzyme-triggered biocatalytic reaction using urea as fuel. The reaction creates an internal flow that extends out into the fluid, causing an open cavity to form. This results in thrust, propelling the nanotube along.

Xing Ma and Samuel Sánchez recognise both Ana C. Hortelao (Spain) and Albert Miguel-López (Spain) contributed to the research as well as the support from their affiliated institutions:

• Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Institution
• School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School
• Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC)
• Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA)

The previous 600 nm record was set in Dresden, Germany, on 6 September 2010 by Alexander Solovev at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW Dresden). The catalytic microtubular jet-engine technology underlying that achievement had been reported in A. A. Solovev, Y. Mei, E. Bermúdez Ureña, G. Huang and O. G. Schmidt, Small 2009, 5(14), 1688-1692, DOI: 10.1002/smll.200900021