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Reversing a Platinum Micromotor by Introducing Platinum Oxide
Xianglong Lyu1,2, Jingyuan Chen1,3, Jiayu Liu1
1Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|April 2, 2022
Summary
Researchers fabricated platinum micromotors with controllable swimming directions by introducing or removing platinum oxides (PtO). This discovery challenges existing models of how these synthetic machines move.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Chemical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Synthetic micro- and nanomotors are crucial for fundamental research and practical applications.
- Platinum-based Janus colloids are archetypal chemical micromotors, utilizing hydrogen peroxide decomposition for propulsion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand and control the swimming direction of platinum-containing Janus micromotors.
- To investigate the role of platinum oxides in micromotor propulsion.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of platinum films via sputtering in oxygen plasma.
- Characterization of platinum oxide formation (PtO).
- Controlled introduction and removal of PtO to manipulate motor direction.
Main Results:
- Platinum oxides, primarily PtO, are formed on platinum films during sputtering in oxygen plasma.
- PtO formation was found to reverse the swimming direction of the micromotors, potentially via self-electrophoresis.
- Micromotors with predictable directional movement were successfully engineered by controlling PtO presence.
Conclusions:
- Platinum oxides play a critical role in the propulsion and directional control of platinum micromotors.
- The findings challenge the notion that platinum alone powers these motors.
- This work opens new strategies for designing and controlling micro- and nanomachines.
