Nanostructured Hybrid BioBots for Beer Brewing.

The brewing industry will amass a revenue above 500 billion euros in 2022, and the market is expected to grow annually. This industrial process is based on a slow sugar fermentation by yeast (commonly ). Herein, we encapsulate yeast cells into a biocompatible alginate (ALG) polymer along FeO nanoparticles to produce magneto/catalytic nanostructured ALG@yeast-FeO BioBots.

Magnetic Hydrogel Microrobots as Insecticide Carriers for In Vivo Insect Pest Control in Plants.

The cost of insect pests to human society exceeds USD70 billion per year worldwide in goods, livestock, and healthcare services. Therefore, pesticides are needed to prevent insect damage despite the secondary effects of these chemical agents on non-target organisms. Chemicals encapsulation into carriers is a promising strategy to improve their specificity.

Soft Magnetic Microrobots for Photoactive Pollutant Removal.

"Soft" robotics based on hydrogels appears as an alternative to the traditional technology of "hard" robotics. Soft microrobots are employed for drug delivery and cell manipulation. This work develops magnetic hydrogel-based microrobots using chitosan (CHI) as the body of the micromotor and Fe O nanoparticles to allow for its magnetic actuation.

Biocompatible micromotors for biosensing.

Micro/nanomotors are nanoscale devices that have been explored in various fields, such as drug delivery, environmental remediation, or biosensing and diagnosis. The use of micro/nanomotors has grown considerably over the past few years, partially because of the advantages that they offer in the development of new conceptual avenues in biosensing. This is due to their propulsion and intermixing in solution compared with their respective static forms, which enables motion-based detection methods and/or decreases bioassay time.

Prussian Blue/Chitosan Micromotors with Intrinsic Enzyme-like Activity for (bio)-Sensing Assays.

Prussian Blue (PB)/chitosan enzyme mimetic tubular micromotors are used here for (bio)-sensing assays. The micromotors are easily prepared by direct deposition of chitosan into the pores of a membrane template and in situ PB synthesis during hydrogel deposition. Under judicious pH control, PB micromotors display enzyme mimetic capabilities with three key functions : the autonomous oxygen bubble propulsion (with PB acting as a catalase mimic for hydrogen peroxide decomposition), 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) oxidation (with PB acting as a peroxidase mimic for analyte detection), and as a magnetic material (to simplify the (bio)-sensing steps).

Graphene quantum dot based micromotors: a size matter.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are used as advanced materials for the preparation of micromotors. The small size and large surface-volume ratio improve the solubility properties, resulting in superior synthesis yields and reproducibility. The unique properties associated with the distinct functionalities of GQDs are illustrated in environmental and sensing applications.

Multi-Light-Responsive Quantum Dot Sensitized Hybrid Micromotors with Dual-Mode Propulsion.

CdS quantum dots/C tubular micromotors with chemical/multi-light-controlled propulsion and "on-the-fly" acceleration capabilities are described. In situ growth of CdS quantum dots on the outer fullerene layer imparts this layer with light-responsive properties in connection to inner Pt, Pd or MnO layers. This is the first time that visible light is used to drive bubble-propelled tubular micromotors.

Self-Propelled Micromotors for Naked-Eye Detection of Phenylenediamines Isomers.

Tubular micromotors composed of a hybrid single-wall carbon nanotube (SW)-FeO outer layer and powered by a MnO catalyst are used for phenylenediamines isomers detection and discrimination. Catalytic decomposition of HO as fuel results in the production of oxygen bubbles and hydroxyl radicals for phenylenediamines dimerization to produce colorful solutions in colorimetric assays. The combination of FeO nanoparticles along with the irregular SW backbone results in a rough catalytic layer for enhanced hydroxyl radical production rate and improved analytical sensitivity.