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Smart Microdevices Laying “Breadcrumbs” to Find the Way Home: Chemotactic Homing TiO 2 /Pt Janus Microrobots
Author(s) -
Kong Lei,
MayorgaMartinez Carmen C.,
Guan Jianguo,
Pumera Martin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemistry – an asian journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.18
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1861-471X
pISSN - 1861-4728
DOI - 10.1002/asia.201900004
Subject(s) - janus , homing (biology) , nanotechnology , phototaxis , chemotaxis , computer science , telecommunications , materials science , chemistry , biology , ecology , biochemistry , botany , receptor
Synthetic microrobots or micromotors are known to show “intelligent” behavior such as magnetotaxis, phototaxis, chemotaxis, active detection, and chemical communication. Herein, we present the concept of micromotors laying “breadcrumbs”; that is, these micromachines can move/return to a home position without external guidance after their external energy input is stopped. As a demonstration, TiO 2 /Pt Janus micromotors that move forward with UV light can return back following the previous path when the UV light is turned off. Such autonomy of motion opens the door for truly independent applications of micromotors in the “deliver‐and‐return” fashion.