The sorption of species from a solution into and onto solids underpins the sequestering of waste and pollutants, precious metal recovery, heterogeneous catalysis, analysis and separation science, and other technologies^1,2. The transfer between phases tends to proceed spontaneously in the direction of equilibrium. For example, alkyl ammonium groups mounted on silica nanoparticles are used to chemisorb cucurbituril macrocycles from solution through host–guest binding^3,4. Molecular ratchet mechanisms^5,6,7, in which kinetic gating^8,9,10,11,12 inhibits or accelerates particular steps, makes it possible to progressively drive dynamic systems^13,14,15,16 away from equilibrium^{17,18,19,20,21}. Here we report on molecular pumps²² immobilized on polymer beads^23,24,25 that use an energy ratchet mechanism^{5,9,19,20,21,26,27,28,29,30} to directionally transport substrates from solution onto the beads. On the addition of trichloroacetic acid (CCl₃CO₂H)^19,31,32,33 fuel^{19,34,35,36,37}, micrometre-diameter polystyrene beads functionalized³⁸ with solvent-accessible molecular pumps sequester from the solution crown ethers appended with fluorescent tags. After fuel consumption, the rings are mechanically trapped in a higher-energy, out-of-equilibrium state on the beads and cannot be removed by dilution or exhaustive washing. This differs from dissipative assembled materials^{11,13,14,15,16}, which require a continuous supply of energy to persist, and from conventional host–guest complexes. The addition of a second fuel pulse causes the uptake of more macrocycles, which drives the system further away from equilibrium. The second macrocycle can be labelled with a different fluorescent tag, which confers sequence information³⁹ on the absorbed structure. The polymer-bound substrates can be released back to the bulk either one compartment at a time or all at once. Non-equilibrium⁴⁰ sorption by immobilized artificial molecular machines^{41,42,43,44,45} enables the transduction of energy from chemical fuels for the use, storage and release of energy and information.

物质从溶液中吸附到固体中并吸附到固体上，是废物和污染物隔离、贵金属回收、多相催化、分析和分离科学以及其他技术^1,2的基础。相间的转移倾向于在平衡方向上自发进行。例如，安装在二氧化硅纳米粒子上的烷基铵基团用于通过主客体结合^3,4从溶液中化学吸附葫芦脲大环化合物。分子棘轮机制^5,6,7，其中动力学门控^8,9,10,11,12抑制或加速特定步骤，使得可以逐步驱动动态系统^13,14,15,16远离平衡^{17,18， 19,20,21}. 在这里，我们报告了固定在聚合物珠子^{23、24、25上的分子泵22}，它们使用能量棘轮机构^{5、9、19、20、21、26、27、28、29、30}将底物从溶液定向输送到珠子上. 添加三氯乙酸 (CCl ₃ CO ₂ H) ^19,31,32,33燃料^{19,34,35,36,37 后}，微米直径聚苯乙烯珠粒功能化³⁸用溶剂可接近的分子泵从附加荧光标签的溶液中分离冠醚。燃料消耗后，这些环被机械地困在珠子上，处于更高能量的不平衡状态，不能通过稀释或彻底清洗来去除。这不同于耗散组装材料^{11,13,14,15,16}，后者需要持续供应能量才能持续存在，也不同于传统的主客复合体。添加第二个燃料脉冲会导致吸收更多的大循环，从而使系统进一步远离平衡。第二个大环可以用不同的荧光标签进行标记，从而提供序列信息³⁹在吸收结构上。聚合物结合的基材可以一次释放一个隔间或一次全部释放回本体。通过固定化人工分子机器^{41、42、43、44、45}进行的非平衡吸附⁴⁰能够实现来自化学燃料的能量转换，用于能量和信息的使用、存储和释放。