RT Journal Article
T1 Graphene-Based Microbots for Toxic Heavy Metal Removal and Recovery from Water
A1 Vilela García, Diana
A1 Parmar, Jemish
A1 Zeng, Yongfei
A1 Zhao, Yanli
A1 Sánchez, Samuel
AB Heavy metal contamination in water is a serious risk to the public health and other life forms on earth. Current research in nanotechnology is developing new nanosystems and nanomaterials for the fast and efficient removal of pollutants and heavy metals from water. Here, we report graphene oxide-based microbots (GOx-microbots) as active self-propelled systems for the capture, transfer, and removal of a heavy metal (i.e., lead) and its subsequent recovery for recycling purposes. Microbots’ structure consists of nanosized multilayers of graphene oxide, nickel, and platinum, providing different functionalities. The outer layer of graphene oxide captures lead on the surface, and the inner layer of platinum functions as the engine decomposing hydrogen peroxide fuel for self-propulsion, while the middle layer of nickel enables external magnetic control of the microbots. Mobile GOx-microbots remove lead 10 times more efficiently than nonmotile GOx-microbots, cleaning water from 1000 ppb down to below 50 ppb in 60 min. Furthermore, after chemical detachment of lead from the surface of GOx-microbots, the microbots can be reused. Finally, we demonstrate the magnetic control of the GOx-microbots inside a microfluidic system as a proof-of-concept for automatic microbots-based system to remove and recover heavy metals.
PB American Chemical Society 
SN 1530-6984
YR 2016
FD 2016
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94026
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94026
LA eng
NO Graphene-Based Microbots for Toxic Heavy Metal Removal and Recovery from WaterDiana Vilela, Jemish Parmar, Yongfei Zeng, Yanli Zhao, and Samuel SánchezNano Letters 2016 16 (4), 2860-2866DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b00768
NO European Commission
NO Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 abr 2025