Publication detail

A Maze in Plastic Wastes: Autonomous Motile Photocatalytic Microrobots against Microplastics

MOHSEN BELADI, M. HERMANOVÁ, S. YING, Y. PLUTNAR, J. PUMERA, M.

Original Title

A Maze in Plastic Wastes: Autonomous Motile Photocatalytic Microrobots against Microplastics

Type

journal article in Web of Science

Language

English

Original Abstract

An extremely high quantity of small piece of synthetic polymers, namely, microplastics, has been recently identified in some of the most intact natural environments, e.g., on top of the Alps and Antarctic ice. This is a "scary wake-up call", considering the potential risks of rnicroplastics for humans and marine systems. Sunlight-driven photocatalysis is the most energy-efficient currently known strategy for plastic degradation; however, attaining efficient pliotocatalyst-plastic interaction and thus an effective charge transfer in the niicro/nanoscale is very difficult; that adds up to the common challenges of heterogeneous photocatalysis including low solubility, precipitation, and aggregation of the photocatalysts. Here, an active photocatalytic degradation procedure based on intelligent visible-light-driven microrobots with the capability of capturing and degrading rnicroplastics "on-the-fly" in a complex multichannel maze is introduced. The robots with hybrid powers carry built-in photocatalytic (BiVO4,) and magnetic (Fe3O4.) materials allowing a self-propelled motion under sunlight with the possibility- of precise actuation under a magnetic field inside the rnacrochannels. The photocatalytic robots are able to efficiently degrade different synthetic microplastics, particularly polylactic acid, polycaprolactorie, thanks to the generated local self-stirring effect in the nanoscale and enhanced interaction with microplastics without using any exterior mechanical stirrers, typically used in conventional systerns. Overall, this proof-of-concept study using microrobots with hybrid wireless powers has shown for the first time the possibility- of efficient degradation of ultrasrnall plastic particles in confined complex spaces, which can impact research on microplastic treatments, with the final goal of diminishing microplastics as an emergent threat for humans and marine ecosystems.

Keywords

microplastics; micromotors; environmental remediation; plastic degradation; photocatalysts

Authors

MOHSEN BELADI, M.; HERMANOVÁ, S.; YING, Y.; PLUTNAR, J.; PUMERA, M.

Released

2. 6. 2021

Publisher

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Location

WASHINGTON

ISBN

1944-8252

Periodical

ACS applied materials & interfaces

Year of study

13

Number

21

State

United States of America

Pages from

25102

Pages to

25110

Pages count

9

URL

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.1c04559

BibTex

@article{BUT172309,
  author="Mousavi {Mohsen Beladi} and Soňa {Hermanová} and Yulong {Ying} and Jan {Plutnar} and Martin {Pumera}",
  title="A Maze in Plastic Wastes: Autonomous Motile Photocatalytic Microrobots against Microplastics",
  journal="ACS applied materials & interfaces",
  year="2021",
  volume="13",
  number="21",
  pages="25102--25110",
  doi="10.1021/acsami.1c04559",
  issn="1944-8252",
  url="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.1c04559"
}