EurekAlert June 9, 2021
Currently sunlight-driven photocatalysis is the most energy-efficient strategy for plastic degradation; however, attaining efficient photocatalyst–plastic interaction and thus an effective charge transfer in the micro/nanoscale is very difficult. As a proof of concept a team of researchers in the Czech Republic introduced an active photocatalytic degradation procedure based on intelligent visible-light-driven microrobots with the capability of capturing and degrading microplastics “on-the-fly” in a complex multichannel maze. 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 macrochannels. Due to the local self-stirring effect in the nanoscale and enhanced interaction with microplastics, the photocatalytic robots efficiently degrade different synthetic microplastics, particularly polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, without using any exterior mechanical stirrers, typically used in conventional systems…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Abstract. Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2021