Progress toward Catalytic Micro- and Nanomotors for Biomedical and Environmental Applications

Abstract

Synthetic micro- and nanomotors (MNMs) are tiny objects that can autonomously move under the influence of an appropriate source of energy, such as a chemical fuel, magnetic field, ultrasound, or light. Chemically driven MNMs are composed of or contain certain reactive material(s) that convert chemical energy of a fuel into kinetic energy (motion) of the particles. Several different materials have been explored over the last decade for the preparation of a wide variety of MNMs. Here, the discovery of materials and approaches to enhance the efficiency of chemically driven MNMs are reviewed. Several prominent applications of the MNMs, especially in the fields of biomedicine and environmental science, are also discussed, as well as the limitations of existing materials and future research directions.

Catalytic micro- and nanomotors are tiny devices that can autonomously propel in the presence of a chemical fuel. An overview is presented of the achievements toward the discovery of new materials and approaches to achieve efficient motion in different chemical fuels. The motion can be utilized to perform various tasks for biomedical and environmental applications.

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