Franco-Japanese Team
The Franco-Japanese Team, led by Prof. Gwénaël Rapenne, is made up of researchers from NAIST (Nara, Japan) and Paul Sabatier University (UPS; Toulouse, France) under the framework of the international collaborative laboratory established between NAIST and CEMES-CNRS (UPS).
Prof. Rapenne is one of the key persons who developed the idea of the contest many years ago (Joachim and Rapenne, 2013). In 2017, he participated in the 1st Nanocar Race as leader of the French team.
“The propulsion of a nanocar is achieved by the excitation of vibrational modes of the molecule or by the repulsion or attraction between the nanocar and the STM tip,
but since the principles governing the motions are not well understood, control and movability are very difficult to manage,” explains Prof. Rapenne.
“For the 2nd Nanocar Race, we have newly designed and synthesized a high-performance dipolar nanocar, called the Blue Buggy,” he continues.
Reference:
Christian Joachim and Gwénaël Rapenne. 2013. Molecule concept nanocars: chassis, wheels, and motors? ACS NANO, 7, 11-14.