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Pick up and dispose of pollutants from water via temperature-responsive micellar copolymers on magnetite nanorobots

Author

Listed:
  • Jayraj V. Vaghasiya

    (University of Chemistry and Technology Prague)

  • Carmen C. Mayorga-Martinez

    (University of Chemistry and Technology Prague)

  • Stanislava Matějková

    (Central Analytical Laboratory, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic)

  • Martin Pumera

    (University of Chemistry and Technology Prague
    Yonsei University
    China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University
    Center for Nanorobotics and Machine Intelligence, Dept. of Food Technology, Mendel University)

Abstract

Nano/micromotor technology is evolving as an effective method for water treatment applications in comparison to existing static mechanisms. The dynamic nature of the nano/micromotor particles enable faster mass transport and a uniform mixing ensuring an improved pollutant degradation and removal. Here we develop thermosensitive magnetic nanorobots (TM nanorobots) consisting of a pluronic tri-block copolymer (PTBC) that functions as hands for pollutant removal. These TM nanorobots are incorporated with iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles as an active material to enable magnetic propulsion. The pickup and disposal of toxic pollutants are monitored by intermicellar agglomeration and separation of PTBC at different temperatures. The as-prepared TM nanorobots show excellent arsenic and atrazine removal efficiency. Furthermore, the adsorbed toxic contaminants on the TM nanorobots can be disposed by a simple cooling process and exhibit good recovery retention after multiple reuse cycles. This combination of temperature sensitive aggregation/separation coupled with magnetic propulsion opens a plethora of opportunities in the applicability of nanorobots in water treatment and targeted pollutant removal approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayraj V. Vaghasiya & Carmen C. Mayorga-Martinez & Stanislava Matějková & Martin Pumera, 2022. "Pick up and dispose of pollutants from water via temperature-responsive micellar copolymers on magnetite nanorobots," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-28406-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28406-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jiangfan Yu & Dongdong Jin & Kai-Fung Chan & Qianqian Wang & Ke Yuan & Li Zhang, 2019. "Active generation and magnetic actuation of microrobotic swarms in bio-fluids," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeonghyo Kim & Carmen C. Mayorga-Martinez & Martin Pumera, 2023. "Magnetically boosted 1D photoactive microswarm for COVID-19 face mask disruption," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.

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