Direct chemomechanical energy conversion is rare at mac-roscopic scales. In contrast, motion at nanoscales is generally by such direct conversion. Flagellar motors, found on the cell membranes of bacteria such as E. coli, are about 45 nm in diameter and are even more powerful. Biologists have investigated these motors. If, however, one looks at them from the engineer's viewpoint, one could envision isolating the motors to propel nanoscale robots or using them in devices that could convert light energy into mechanical power through the use of light-harnessing molecules.
Nanostructured solids can be far superior to bulk ones in terms of mechanical properties.
For example, carbon nanotubes have elastic modulus on the order of 1 TPa and can sustain critical strain of about 5 percent before yielding. What is interesting, however, is that the nanomechanics of plasticity and dissipation in such solids can be very different from those in bulk solids, where dislocations play a dominant role. The high strength combined with the small mass of nanostructured solids also leads to mechanical resonant structures with frequencies of 100 MHz to 10 GHz. The fact that much of wireless communication occurs in this frequency range suggests the prospect of a wireless technology based on nanomechanical structures for signal processing. It should be noted that high mechanical strength often comes with high thermal conductivities.