A team of scientists from Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic has developed biohybrid microrobots that can remove micro- and nanoplastic particles from water. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Advanced Functional Materials (AFM).
Devices called MAR (magnetic algae robots) consist of a combination of algae and environmentally friendly magnetic materials.
“These robots operate under the influence of an external magnetic field, which allows their movements to be precisely controlled. The negative surface charge of MAR is explained by the presence of -COOH groups on the surface of algal cells. In contrast, selected micro- and nanoplastics carry a positive surface charge. This “The positive-negative interaction facilitates electrostatic attraction, thus facilitating the targeted capture and removal of micro- and nanoplastics by MAR,” explains study co-author Xia Peng, an expert at the Energy and Future Innovation Laboratory, explaining how the innovation works.
Peng and colleagues evaluated the microrobots in a series of tests and found that the MARs could be controlled remotely with high precision and could remove most of the smallest plastic particles from the water tanks in which they were placed.
“Our microrobots demonstrated outstanding cleaning efficiency, achieving success rates as high as 92% for nanoplastics and 70% for microplastics,” said Xia Peng.
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