© 1999 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Nanomedicine, Volume I: Basic Capabilities, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 1999

6.4.3.5 Chemical Tethers

Chemical energy may also be delivered by tether at power densities >10¹⁰ watts/m³. Single tethers could bring ATP, glucose, or synthetic energy storage molecules (Section 6.2.3) directly to nanodevices in vivo. Double-tether cables could carry two hypergolic fuels, or a separate fuel and oxidizer, in a paired cable under pressure with the components mixed on site to release their stored energy. At 1000-10,000 atm pressures, most organic substances should undergo a hypergolic (spontaneous) reaction with oxygen piped in at equivalent pressure; safety would be a primary concern with this approach. Chemical tethers may also be used to resupply macroscopic energy organs (Section 6.4.4), or to exchange chemicals with an artificial nanoliver or other chemical modulating, processing, or synthesizing implanted nano-organs.

Last updated on 18 February 2003