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Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Synthesis and Characterization of Functionalized Metal-organic Frameworks
Published on: September 5, 2014
MOFBOTS: Metal-Organic-Framework-Based Biomedical Microrobots
Xiaopu Wang1, Xiang-Zhong Chen1, Carlos C J Alcântara1
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, Tannenstrasse 3, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Motile metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are potential candidates to serve as small-scale robotic platforms for applications in environmental remediation, targeted drug delivery, or nanosurgery. Here, magnetic helical microstructures coated with a kind of zinc-based MOF, zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8), with biocompatibility characteristics and pH-responsive features, are successfully fabricated. Moreover, it is shown that this highly integrated multifunctional device can swim along predesigned tracks under the control of weak rotational magnetic fields. The proposed systems can achieve single-cell targeting in a cell culture media and a controlled delivery of cargo payloads inside a complex microfluidic channel network. This new approach toward the fabrication of integrated multifunctional systems will open new avenues in soft microrobotics beyond current applications.
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