Micro- and Nanomotors as Active Environmental Microcleaners and Sensors

TLDR

Environmental nanotechnology has surged to address global clean‑water needs, with micro/nanomotors emerging as promising tools for pollutant removal. This Perspective reviews chemical aspects of micromotor‑mediated environmental cleanup and sensing, addressing scalability, reuse, and cost challenges. Micromotors are engineered with functional materials or pollutant‑targeting modifications, and their active motion enhances mixing and mass transfer for remediation while also serving as a pollutant‑sensing indicator.

Abstract

The quest to provide clean water to the entire population has led to a tremendous boost in the development of environmental nanotechnology. Toward this end, micro/nanomotors are emerging as attractive tools to improve the removal of various pollutants. The micro/nanomotors either are designed with functional materials in their structure or are modified to target pollutants. The active motion of these motors improves the mixing and mass transfer, greatly enhancing the rate of various remediation processes. Their motion can also be used as an indicator of the presence of a pollutant for sensing purposes. In this Perspective, we discuss different chemical aspects of micromotors mediated environmental cleanup and sensing strategies along with their scalability, reuse, and cost associated challenges.