Nanobots, the shorter term for Nano Robots or the tiny machines designed to perform a specific task or tasks, are now being made using folded and cut-out papers.
Origami and Kirigami, a version of Origami where paper is cut, are ancient Japanese art forms. Through a research paper that was published in Nature, scientists from the Cornell University demonstrated how both are being utilized to influence the design for atom-thick graphene objects foreseen to be of vital use in nanotechnology in the future.
Quartz interviewed Paul McEuen, the leader of the team behind the project. McEuen first described the background of their study, saying that through one of his graduate students, Melina Blees, who had a background in the arts, 3D models of Kirigami structures were created on the computer. The structures were then brought to the art department and were laser-cut onto paper. These were later on brought to the lab of McEuen and were made into graphene. After placing the modeled graphene under the microscope, springs and hinges were made which were activated remotely with the use of magnets. The team then found out that graphene could be crumpled and flattened to their original shape just like paper.
McEuen sees that technology based on his team's Kirigami techniques will be a part of flexible electronics pretty soon. Electricity can be conducted using graphene. The team also came up with what theoretically can be implanted in the human skin or body, as the material could move and bend with the body tissues.
McEuen thinks that they could be implanted in the brain as well in order to detect neural signals. "With these kinds of materials, we envision making flexible electronics that could go in a cell, or a neuron," says McEuen, in reference to the material's nano-capacity.
He believes that the technology can pave the way for Nano Robots or Nanobots. He also intends to take the research they are doing to really small robot creations, like those mimicking insects and animals. McEuen however, thinks that making robots of that size may still take some 50 or so years. "Our contribution was just pushing it to the smallest possible piece of paper," McEuen concluded.
