A research team led by professor Tomiki Ikeda at the Tokyo Institute of Technology has developed what is being called the world’s first plastic motor powered solely and directly by light.
Unlike solar-powered motors that use photovoltaic cells to convert light to electric power (and which require wires and batteries to deliver and store the power), this first-of-a-kind motor converts light directly into mechanical energy, thanks to a belt made from a special elastomer whose molecular structure expands or contracts when illuminated, depending on the wavelength of light.
Ikeda began working on the light-activated motor in 2003, after discovering that a plastic compound containing azobenzene would contract when exposed to ultraviolet light and resume its original shape when exposed to visible light. Since then, in addition to working on improving the material’s shape-shifting properties, Ikeda’s team has been looking at ways to use the material in a motor that converts light […]

Original post by Edo