Managed graphene microbots help purify water from heavy metals and toxic compounds.
The technologies used by man in various industrial processes are far from perfect and, in the overwhelming majority of cases, at their final and intermediate stages they cause environmental pollution. The technologies of production of solar and rechargeable batteries, countless electronic devices, mining of minerals, etc. are harmful to the environment and humans. Heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, chromium, cadmium, etc. are often a byproduct of the production process in these cases. deposited when released into the soil in the composition of various compounds.
In connection with the above-mentioned problem, the treatment of waste water from heavy metals is of particular importance today. Unfortunately, the issue raised does not always take its proper place in the infrastructure of the production processes of enterprises, which is connected, first of all, with the cost of the wastewater treatment plants themselves, and of the cleaning technology itself.
A cleaning method that could become an affordable alternative to the construction of costly and not always sufficiently effective treatment facilities was proposed by a joint team of scientists from the Institute of Intelligent Systems. Max Planck (Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems) in Stuttgart (Germany) and the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia in Barcelona (Spain). In the course of the experiments, microbets from graphene were used, which in one hour of work managed to remove more than 95% of lead from the water.
How it works
By itself, microbot has a complex multi-layered structure. The outer layer consists of graphene - a powerful adsorbent that captures the ions of the heavy metals of the environment with which it contacts. The middle layer is made of nickel - ferromagnet, capable of exhibiting magnetic properties. This makes the microbot swarm controlled by an external magnetic field. The inside of the microbot is coated with platinum-coated. When hydrogen peroxide is added to water, platinum acts as a catalyst for the chemical reaction of hydrogen peroxide decomposition into water and oxygen, the by-product of which are actively evolving bubbles escaping from the hollow back of the bot and creating a directional force vector.
The proposed method of water purification using graphene robots, each of which is less than the thickness of a human hair, has serious advantages over existing purification technologies. Such robots are not only capable of being sent to a task in groups, but also reused, thanks to a simple and inexpensive chemical cleaning process. This advantage greatly reduces the cost of using the technology. “Our robots are the first step towards creating a“ smart ”cleaning system that can remove pollution from the environment without creating, by other systems, by-products of pollution,” explains a representative of the research team Samuel Sanchez.
At this stage, the capabilities of the demonstrated technology make it possible to remove lead from water, but using the same principle, scientists intend to expand the capabilities of microbots in order to bind ions of other heavy metals and toxic chemical compounds that are dangerous to the environment and human health. In addition to the cleaning functions, according to the researchers - the authors of the development of micro- and non-bots of a similar design can be used in medicine for drug delivery and sensing.
Having received encouraging results in the laboratory, scientists have already begun to improve the technology that will allow the production of “microbots-orderlies” on a production scale.
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