Nano/Micromotors in (Bio)chemical Science Applications

Nano/Micromotors in (Bio)chemical Science Application

Wastewater Mediated Activation of Micromotors for Efficient Water Cleaning

We present wastewater-mediated activation of catalytic micromotors for the degradation of nitroaromatic pollutants in water. These next-generation hybrid micromotors are fabricated by growing catalytically active Pd particles over thin-metal films (Ti/Fe/Cr), which are then rolled-up into self-propelled tubular microjets. Coupling of catalytically active Pd particles inside the micromotor surface in the presence of a 4-nitrophenol pollutant (with NaBH₄ as reductant) results in autonomous motion via the bubble–recoil propulsion mechanism such that the target pollutant mixture (wastewater) is consumed as a fuel, thereby generating nontoxic byproducts. This study also offers several distinct advantages over its predecessors including no pH/temperature manipulation, limited stringent process control and complete destruction of the target pollutant mixture. The improved intermixing ability of the micromotors caused faster degradation ca. 10 times higher as compared to its nonmotile counterpart. The high catalytic efficiency obtained via a wet-lab approach has promising potential in creating hybrid micromotors comprising of multicatalytic systems assembled into one entity for sustainable environmental remediation and theranostics

Wastewater Mediated Activation of Micromotors for Efficient Water Cleaning

We present wastewater-mediated activation of catalytic micromotors for the degradation of nitroaromatic pollutants in water. These next-generation hybrid micromotors are fabricated by growing catalytically active Pd particles over thin-metal films (Ti/Fe/Cr), which are then rolled-up into self-propelled tubular microjets. Coupling of catalytically active Pd particles inside the micromotor surface in the presence of a 4-nitrophenol pollutant (with NaBH₄ as reductant) results in autonomous motion via the bubble–recoil propulsion mechanism such that the target pollutant mixture (wastewater) is consumed as a fuel, thereby generating nontoxic byproducts. This study also offers several distinct advantages over its predecessors including no pH/temperature manipulation, limited stringent process control and complete destruction of the target pollutant mixture. The improved intermixing ability of the micromotors caused faster degradation ca. 10 times higher as compared to its nonmotile counterpart. The high catalytic efficiency obtained via a wet-lab approach has promising potential in creating hybrid micromotors comprising of multicatalytic systems assembled into one entity for sustainable environmental remediation and theranostics

Superhydrophobic Alkanethiol-Coated Microsubmarines for Effective Removal of Oil

We demonstrate the use of artificial nanomachines for effective interaction, capture, transport, and removal of oil droplets. The simple nanomachine-enabled oil collection method is based on modifying microtube engines with a superhydrophobic layer able to adsorb oil by means of its strong adhesion to a long chain of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols created on the rough gold outer surface of the device. The resultant SAM-coated Au/Ni/PEDOT/Pt microsubmarine displays continuous interaction with large oil droplets and is capable of loading and transporting multiple small oil droplets. The influence of the alkanethiol chain length, polarity, and head functional group and hence of the surface hydrophobicity upon the oil–nanomotor interaction and the propulsion is examined. No such oil–motor interactions were observed in control experiments involving both unmodified microengines and microengines coated with SAM layers containing a polar terminal group. These results demonstrate that such SAM-Au/Ni/PEDOT/Pt micromachines can be useful for a facile, rapid, and efficient collection of oils in water samples, which can be potentially exploited for other water–oil separation systems. The integration of oil-sorption properties into self-propelled microengines holds great promise for the remediation of oil-contaminated water samples and for the isolation of other hydrophobic targets, such as drugs

Bacterial Isolation by Lectin-Modified Microengines

New template-based self-propelled gold/nickel/polyaniline/platinum (Au/Ni/PANI/Pt) microtubular engines, functionalized with the Concanavalin A (ConA) lectin bioreceptor, are shown to be extremely useful for the rapid, real-time isolation of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) bacteria from fuel-enhanced environmental, food, and clinical samples. These multifunctional microtube engines combine the selective capture of <i>E. coli</i> with the uptake of polymeric drug-carrier particles to provide an attractive motion-based theranostics strategy. Triggered release of the captured bacteria is demonstrated by movement through a low-pH glycine-based dissociation solution. The smaller size of the new polymer-metal microengines offers convenient, direct, and label-free optical visualization of the captured bacteria and discrimination against nontarget cells

Bacterial Isolation by Lectin-Modified Microengines

New template-based self-propelled gold/nickel/polyaniline/platinum (Au/Ni/PANI/Pt) microtubular engines, functionalized with the Concanavalin A (ConA) lectin bioreceptor, are shown to be extremely useful for the rapid, real-time isolation of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) bacteria from fuel-enhanced environmental, food, and clinical samples. These multifunctional microtube engines combine the selective capture of <i>E. coli</i> with the uptake of polymeric drug-carrier particles to provide an attractive motion-based theranostics strategy. Triggered release of the captured bacteria is demonstrated by movement through a low-pH glycine-based dissociation solution. The smaller size of the new polymer-metal microengines offers convenient, direct, and label-free optical visualization of the captured bacteria and discrimination against nontarget cells

Bacterial Isolation by Lectin-Modified Microengines

New template-based self-propelled gold/nickel/polyaniline/platinum (Au/Ni/PANI/Pt) microtubular engines, functionalized with the Concanavalin A (ConA) lectin bioreceptor, are shown to be extremely useful for the rapid, real-time isolation of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) bacteria from fuel-enhanced environmental, food, and clinical samples. These multifunctional microtube engines combine the selective capture of <i>E. coli</i> with the uptake of polymeric drug-carrier particles to provide an attractive motion-based theranostics strategy. Triggered release of the captured bacteria is demonstrated by movement through a low-pH glycine-based dissociation solution. The smaller size of the new polymer-metal microengines offers convenient, direct, and label-free optical visualization of the captured bacteria and discrimination against nontarget cells

Bacterial Isolation by Lectin-Modified Microengines

New template-based self-propelled gold/nickel/polyaniline/platinum (Au/Ni/PANI/Pt) microtubular engines, functionalized with the Concanavalin A (ConA) lectin bioreceptor, are shown to be extremely useful for the rapid, real-time isolation of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (<i>E. coli</i>) bacteria from fuel-enhanced environmental, food, and clinical samples. These multifunctional microtube engines combine the selective capture of <i>E. coli</i> with the uptake of polymeric drug-carrier particles to provide an attractive motion-based theranostics strategy. Triggered release of the captured bacteria is demonstrated by movement through a low-pH glycine-based dissociation solution. The smaller size of the new polymer-metal microengines offers convenient, direct, and label-free optical visualization of the captured bacteria and discrimination against nontarget cells