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TOPICS: American Chemical Society Microplastics Nanotechnology Pollution Robotics
By AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY MAY 8, 2024

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Innovative microrobots designed to mimic natural swarms can effectively remove both microplastics and bacterial Researchers suggest that their results could be
contaminants from water, offering a reusable solution to water pollution. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com crucial in creating personalized vitamin D
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Researchers have developed microrobots capable of removing microplastics and
researchers from Trinity College Dublin, published…
bacteria from water, addressing the dual threat of pollution and disease spread in
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When old food packaging, discarded children’s toys, and other mismanaged plastic waste break down
into microplastics, they become even harder to clean up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of
plastic also attract bacteria, including those that cause disease. In a study in ACS Nano, researchers
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To clean water, researchers have designed swarms of tiny, spherical robots that collect bacteria and small pieces of plastic.
Credit: American Chemical Society
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To construct the bots, the team linked strands of a positively charged polymer to magnetic Yale University
microparticles, which only move when exposed to a magnetic field. The polymer strands, which radiate
from the surface of the beads, attract both plastics and microbes. And the finished products — the
individual robots — measured 2.8 micrometers in diameter.

When exposed to a rotating magnetic field, the robots swarmed together. By adjusting the number of
robots that self-organized into flat clusters, the researchers found that they could alter the swarm’s
movement and speed.

To clean water, researchers have designed swarms of tiny, spherical robots (light yellow) that collect bacteria (green) and
small pieces of plastic (gray). Credit: Adapted from ACS Nano 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c02115

···
In lab experiments, the team replicated microplastics and bacteria in the environment by adding
fluorescent polystyrene beads (1 micrometer-wide) and actively swimming Pseudomonas aeruginosa
bacteria, which can cause pneumonia and other infections, to a water tank.

Next, the researchers added microrobots to the tank and exposed them to a rotating magnetic field for
30 minutes, switching it on and off every 10 seconds. A robot concentration of 7.5 milligrams per
milliliter, the densest of four concentrations tested, captured approximately 80% of the bacteria.
Meanwhile, at this same concentration, the number of free plastic beads also gradually dropped, as they
were drawn to the microrobots.

···

Afterward, the researchers collected the robots with a permanent magnet and used ultrasound to
detach the bacteria clinging to them. They then exposed the removed microbes to ultraviolet radiation,
completing the disinfection. When reused, the decontaminated robots still picked up plastic and
microbes, albeit smaller amounts of both. This microrobotic system provides a promising approach for
ridding water of plastic and bacteria, the researchers note.

Reference: “Magnetic Microrobot Swarms with Polymeric Hands Catching Bacteria and Microplastics
in Water” 8 May 2024, ACS Nano.
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c02115

The authors acknowledge funding from the European Regional Development Fund/Europeal Social
Fund project TECHSCALE, the REFRESH program of the European Union and CzechNanoLab.

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1 COMMENT

ON "MICROROBOTS SWARM THE SEAS, CAPTURING MICROPLASTICS AND BACTERIA [VIDEO]"

Theo | May 8, 2024 at 6:14 pm | Reply

 Cars, toasters, mobile phones, etc. aren’t robots… I don’t understand why these particles are called
robots, call it what it is! A polymeric-magnetic bead! It not just this article but also the research
publication that is hype.

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