Multifunctional and biodegradable self-propelled protein motors

TLDR

Self‑propelled chemical motors driven by Marangoni forces have been developed, but most suffer from poor performance, limited control, and toxic materials. To overcome these limitations, we have developed multifunctional and biodegradable self‑propelled motors from squid‑derived proteins and an anesthetic metabolite. The motors are fabricated from squid‑derived proteins and an anesthetic metabolite, providing biodegradability and multifunctionality. These protein motors outperform previous designs by several orders of magnitude in output and efficiency, offer programmable control over speed, direction, and lifetime through protein nanostructure regulation, and demonstrate versatile applications in environmental remediation, microrobot powering, cargo delivery, and minimally invasive medical operations at air‑liquid interfaces.

Abstract

A diversity of self-propelled chemical motors, based on Marangoni propulsive forces, has been developed in recent years. However, most motors are non-functional due to poor performance, a lack of control, and the use of toxic materials. To overcome these limitations, we have developed multifunctional and biodegradable self-propelled motors from squid-derived proteins and an anesthetic metabolite. The protein motors surpass previous reports in performance output and efficiency by several orders of magnitude, and they offer control of their propulsion modes, speed, mobility lifetime, and directionality by regulating the protein nanostructure via local and external stimuli, resulting in programmable and complex locomotion. We demonstrate diverse functionalities of these motors in environmental remediation, microrobot powering, and cargo delivery applications. These versatile and degradable protein motors enable design, control, and actuation strategies in microrobotics as modular propulsion sources for autonomous minimally invasive medical operations in biological environments with air-liquid interfaces.