Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Small. 2013 Feb 11;9(3):467-71. doi: 10.1002/smll.201201864. Epub 2012 Oct 11.
Here the first example of a chemically powered micromotor that harvests its energy from the reactions of three different fuels is presented. The new Al/Pd Janus microspheres-prepared by depositing a Pd layer on one side of Al microparticles-are propelled efficiently by the thrust of hydrogen bubbles generated from different reactions of Al in strong acidic and alkaline environments, and by an oxygen bubble thrust produced at their partial Pd coating in hydrogen peroxide media. High speeds and long lifetimes of 200 μm s(-1) and 8 min are achieved in strong alkaline media and acidic media, respectively. The ability to autonomously adapt to the presence of a new fuel (surrounding environment), without compromising the propulsion behavior is illustrated. These data also represent the first example of a chemically powered micromotor that propels autonomously and efficiently in alkaline environments (pH > 11) without additional fuels. The ability to use multiple fuel sources to power the same micromotor offers a broader scope of operation and considerable promise for diverse applications of micromotors in different chemical environments.
这里呈现了第一个从三种不同燃料的反应中获取能量的化学动力微型马达的实例。新型 Al/Pd 双金属微球是通过在 Al 微球的一侧沉积一层 Pd 层而制备的，它能够有效地被强酸性和碱性环境中 Al 不同反应产生的氢气泡的推力以及在其部分 Pd 涂层中产生的氧气泡的推力推动。在强碱性介质中和酸性介质中分别实现了 200μm/s 和 8 分钟的高速度和长寿命。自主适应新燃料（周围环境）存在而不影响推进行为的能力得到了证明。这些数据还代表了第一个在没有额外燃料的情况下能够在碱性环境（pH>11）中自主高效推进的化学动力微型马达的实例。使用多种燃料源为同一个微型马达提供动力的能力提供了更广泛的操作范围，并为微型马达在不同化学环境中的各种应用提供了巨大的前景。
