Light-Activated Fuel-Free Janus Metal Organic Framework Colloidal Motors for the Removal of Heavy Metal Ions
- 21 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Vol. 13 (43), 51799-51806
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c16902
Abstract
Light-powered fuel-free colloidal motors possess significant potential for practical applications ranging from nanomedicine to environmental remediation. However, current light-powered colloidal motors often require the incorporation of expensive metals or high concentrations of toxic chemical fuels, which is a severe limitation for their practical applications. Integrating highly ordered and porous materials with a large surface area into colloidal motors is a promising strategy for upsurging their self-propelled speed and adsorption, which will benefit many applications. Here, highly efficient, fuel-free, and light-activated metal organic framework (MOF)-3-trimethoxysilyl propyl methacrylate Janus colloidal motors with a hierarchical morphology are reported. These colloidal motors can be driven by UV or visible light, with a self-propelled speed tuned by the light intensity. The speed can be further enhanced by morphology optimization or by the addition of H2O2 as a fuel. The colloidal motors display a superior efficiency in removing heavy metal ions of Hg, which is up to ∼90% within 40 min from the contaminated water, attributed to their high surface area, hierarchical morphology, large number of active sites, and high mobility. This work not only offers a facile approach to incorporate a versatile MOF family into the design of fuel-free and light-powered Janus colloidal motors, but also demonstrates their potential for real-life applications such as environmental remediation.Funding Information
- Research Fund for International Young Scientists (22050410275)
- General Program (11774237)
- Innovation Program of Guangdong Provincial Department of Education (2019KTSCX148)
This publication has 56 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hierarchical photocatalystsChemical Society Reviews, 2016
- Introducing asymmetric functionality into MOFs via the generation of metallic Janus MOF particlesChemical Communications, 2016
- Graphene-based Janus micromotors for the dynamic removal of pollutantsJournal of Materials Chemistry A, 2016
- Peptide–Metal Organic Framework Swimmers that Direct the Motion toward Chemical TargetsNano Letters, 2015
- Motorized Janus metal organic framework crystalsChemical Communications, 2014
- Catalytic Iridium-Based Janus Micromotors Powered by Ultralow Levels of Chemical FuelsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2014
- Targeted delivery of colloids by swimming bacteriaNature Communications, 2013
- Light‐Driven Titanium‐Dioxide‐Based Reversible Microfireworks and Micromotor/Micropump SystemsAdvanced Functional Materials, 2010
- Accurate detection and complete tracking of large populations of features in three dimensionsOptics Express, 2009
- Motion of a particle generated by chemical gradients. Part 2. ElectrolytesJournal of Fluid Mechanics, 1984