The propulsion of synthetic nanoscale objects represents a great challenge and opportunity. Unfortunately, the requirement of the toxic chemical fuels or extreme environments greatly impedes many practical applications of such chemically-propelled micro/nanoscale motors. We describe here the use of seawater as fuel to propel Janus micromotors. The new micromotors consist of biodegradable and environmentally friendly magnesium microparticles and a nickel�gold bilayer patch for magnetic guidance and surface modification. Such seawater-driven micromotors, which utilize macrogalvanic corrosion and chloride pitting corrosion processes, eliminate the need for external fuels to offer efficient and prolonged propulsion towards diverse applications in aquatic environments. The important related roles of the gold coating and the ionic (particularly chloride-rich) environments have been discussed. We also demonstrated the first example of a surface-functionalized water-driven micromotor towards practical applications in realistic environments. SAM-modified hydrophobic Mg micromotors were thus applied successfully for oil cleaning in seawater and show considerable potential for environmental remediation. The new water-driven motion capability should greatly expand the scope of applications and environments of chemically powered nanomachines.

Self-Propelled Mg-based micromotors for environmental remediation

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.