A MXene Hydrogel-Based Versatile Microrobot for Controllable Water Pollution Management

The urgent demand for addressing dye contaminants in water necessitates the development of microrobots that exhibit remote navigation, rapid removal, and molecular identification capabilities. The progress of microrobot development is currently hindered by the scarcity of multifunctional materials. In this study, a plasmonic MXene hydrogel (PM-Gel) is synthesized by combining bimetallic nanocubes and Ti₃C₂T_x MXene through the rapid gelation of degradable alginate. The hydrogel can efficiently adsorb over 60% of dye contaminants within 2 min, ultimately achieving a removal rate of >90%. Meanwhile, the hydrogel exhibits excellent sensitivity in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection, with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 3.76 am. The properties of the plasmonic hydrogel can be further adjusted for various applications. As a proof-of-concept experiment, thermosensitive polymers and superparamagnetic particles are successfully integrated into this hydrogel to construct a versatile, light-responsive microrobot for dye contaminants. With magnetic and optical actuation, the robot can remotely sample, identify, and remove pollutants in maze-like channels. Moreover, light-driven hydrophilic-hydrophobic switch of the microrobots through photothermal effect can further enhance the adsorption capacity and reduced the dye residue by up to 58%. These findings indicate of a broad application potential in complex real-world environments.