---
OA_place: repository
_id: '22892'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 'Countless biological processes are fueled by energy-rich molecules like ATP
    and GTP that supply energy with extreme efficiency. However, designing similar
    energy-delivery schemes from the bottom up, essential for the development of powered
    nanostructures and other \emph{de novo} machinery, presents a significant challenge:
    how can an energy-rich structure be stable in solution yet still deliver this
    energy at precisely the right time? In this paper, we present a purely physical
    mechanism that solves this challenge, facilitating energy transfer akin to ATP
    hydrolysis, yet occurring between synthetic nanostructures without any biochemical
    interactions. This targeted energy delivery is achieved by exploiting a differentiable
    state-based model to balance the energy profiles that govern the structural transitions
    in the two nanostructures, creating a coupled relaxation pathway with minimal
    barriers that facilitates energy delivery. We verify the effectiveness and robustness
    of this mechanism through Langevin Dynamics simulations, demonstrating that a
    bath of the high-energy structures can systematically and repeatedly drive the
    target structure out of equilibrium, enabling it to perform tasks. As the mechanism
    operates only through explicit physical forces without any biochemistry or internal
    state variables, our results present generic and far-reaching design principles,
    setting the stage for the next generation of synthetic nanomachines.'
acknowledgement: "We thank Edouard Hannezo, Ella King, Maximilian Lechner, and Jérémie
  Palacci for stimulating discussions, and Edouard Hannezo, Maximilian Hübl, and\r\nMaitane
  Muñoz-Basagoiti for helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was funded
  in part by the\r\nAustrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/PAT8537123]."
article_processing_charge: No
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Andreas
  full_name: Ehrmann, Andreas
  id: eaa689ed-f6e0-11ea-865d-bd98cbcf83c2
  last_name: Ehrmann
  orcid: 0000-0002-0997-5678
- first_name: Carl Peter
  full_name: Goodrich, Carl Peter
  id: EB352CD2-F68A-11E9-89C5-A432E6697425
  last_name: Goodrich
  orcid: 0000-0002-1307-5074
citation:
  ama: Ehrmann A, Goodrich CP. Controlling energy delivery with bistable nanostructures.
    <i>arXiv</i>. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266">10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266</a>
  apa: Ehrmann, A., &#38; Goodrich, C. P. (n.d.). Controlling energy delivery with
    bistable nanostructures. <i>arXiv</i>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266">https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266</a>
  chicago: Ehrmann, Andreas, and Carl Peter Goodrich. “Controlling Energy Delivery
    with Bistable Nanostructures.” <i>ArXiv</i>, n.d. <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266">https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266</a>.
  ieee: A. Ehrmann and C. P. Goodrich, “Controlling energy delivery with bistable
    nanostructures,” <i>arXiv</i>. .
  ista: Ehrmann A, Goodrich CP. Controlling energy delivery with bistable nanostructures.
    arXiv, <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266">10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266</a>.
  mla: Ehrmann, Andreas, and Carl Peter Goodrich. “Controlling Energy Delivery with
    Bistable Nanostructures.” <i>ArXiv</i>, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266">10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266</a>.
  short: A. Ehrmann, C.P. Goodrich, ArXiv (n.d.).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2026-09-09T13:16:54Z
date_published: 2026-06-07T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-09-18T11:28:29Z
day: '07'
department:
- _id: CaGo
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2506.14266'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.14266
month: '06'
oa: 1
oa_version: Preprint
project:
- _id: 90a98bb5-16d5-11f0-9cad-9675f3f8015d
  grant_number: PAT 8537123
  name: Functional bio-inspired nanomachines from sticky colloids
publication: arXiv
publication_status: draft
related_material:
  record:
  - id: '22873'
    relation: dissertation_contains
    status: public
status: public
title: Controlling energy delivery with bistable nanostructures
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by_nc_nd.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
    (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
  short: CC BY-NC-ND (4.0)
type: preprint
user_id: 8b945eb4-e2f2-11eb-945a-df72226e66a9
year: '2026'
...