What chemical elements would medical nanorobots be made of?
The typical medical nanodevice will probably be a micron-scale robot assembled from nanoscale parts. These parts could range in size from 1-100 nm (1 nm = 10-9 meter), and might be fitted together to make a working machine measuring perhaps 0.5-3 microns (1 micron = 10-6 meter) in diameter. Three microns is about the maximum size for bloodborne medical nanorobots, due to the capillary passage requirement. Carbon will likely be the principal element comprising the bulk of a medical nanorobot, probably in the form of diamond or diamondoid/fullerene nanocompositeslargely because of the tremendous strength and chemical inertness of diamond. Many other light elements such as hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, fluorine, silicon, etc. will be used for special purposes in nanoscale gears and other components.
