Jerusalem, 9 November, 2026 (TPS-IL) — An Israeli-Indian scientific collaboration has uncovered a previously unknown link between mechanical motion and electricity, demonstrating that the rotation of a single molecule can increase its ability to conduct electrical current by as much as 100-fold.
The research was inspired by the Archimedes screw, an ancient mechanism consisting of a spiral blade wrapped around a central shaft. Invented more than 2,000 years ago to lift water, the device is still used in some hydroelectric power plants. The researchers have now demonstrated a molecular-scale version of this principle, in which a spiral-shaped molecule spins and, in doing so, becomes a better conductor of electricity.
Although the discovery does not yet point to an immediate commercial application, it could open new possibilities for designing molecular-scale electronics in which mechanical movement helps regulate the flow of electricity.
Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science and their international partners found that an electric current can set a spiral-shaped molecule spinning, while the rotation itself makes it easier for electrons to pass through. When the molecule shifts from intermittent movement to continuous rotation, the electrical current passing through it can increase by as much as 100-fold.
The research, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal *Nature*, was led by Dr. Anil Kumar Singh, an Indian researcher who conducted the experiments as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Prof. Oren Tal at the Weizmann Institute. Singh is now a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
The international collaboration also included researchers from the University of Augsburg in Germany, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.
A Spinning Molecule
The team, supervised by Tal, of the Weizmann Institute’s Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, placed a single spiral-shaped molecule between two gold electrodes under extremely cold laboratory conditions, at a temperature close to absolute zero.
When the researchers applied an electrical voltage, they observed repeated fluctuations in the current passing through the molecule. The pattern indicated that the molecule was rotating in one direction. Reversing the direction of the current reversed the pattern, showing that the molecule was spinning in the opposite direction.
The researchers then increased the voltage and observed a dramatic change. Once it passed a certain threshold, the current through the molecule jumped by up to 100-fold.
Calculations showed that this increase occurs when the molecule switches from fragmented, stop-and-start movement to continuous rotation. The smoother motion allows electrons to pass through more easily, making the molecule a much better electrical conductor.
“The findings present a new operating principle for molecular machines: the electric current drives the molecule, while its rotation improves electrical conductivity, so that at the same voltage a greater current can pass through it,” Tal said.
The team also discovered that the voltage threshold triggering the increase in current can be adjusted by changing the molecule’s shape.
“In addition, we discovered that it is possible to control the threshold at which the increase in current begins by stretching or compressing the molecule, similar to changing the angle of the blades of a turbine,” Tal said.
To achieve this, the researchers adjusted the distance between the gold electrodes in increments of less than 0.1 nanometer (one-tenth of a billionth of a meter), stretching or compressing the molecule positioned between them.
The findings could eventually contribute to the development of molecular-scale electronic switches, highly sensitive sensors and molecular machines that combine mechanical movement with electrical control. Because the molecule’s conductivity responds to its rotation, and the voltage triggering the change can be adjusted by stretching or compressing it, the principle could help engineers develop tiny components capable of translating minute mechanical changes into electrical signals.
