Recent Advancements in Information Ratchet Design

While the broader context of molecular machinery has already been extensively discussed in the scientific literature, there is a lack of dedicated reviews focusing specifically and exclusively on information ratchets. These ratchets deserve a dedicated analysis as they are common in nature and their implementation in artificial systems can lead to new ways of achieving biomimetic processes and endergonic synthesis. This review summarizes recent advancements in the design of synthetic information ratchets, highlighting breakthroughs in the rationalization and optimization of fueling and structural parameters for the sake of efficiency. Novel methods are described for in situ quantification and the translation of molecular motion into macroscopic work. The latest artificial information ratchets are compared to the previous literature and the natural motors that inspired them. The reported findings are meant to show how research on information ratcheting has progressed in the last five years, with various designs paving the way to bio-inspired nanotechnologies and materials.