de la Asunción-Nadal Víctor, Solano Enrique, Jurado-Sánchez Beatriz, Escarpa Alberto
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Alcala, Alcala de Henares, E-28802 Madrid, Spain.
Chemical Research Institute "Andres M. Del Río", Universidad de Alcala, Alcala de Henares, E-28802 Madrid, Spain.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Sep 11;16(36):47396-47405. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c06672. Epub 2024 Aug 27.
Microplastics are highly persistent emerging pollutants that are widely distributed in the environment. We report the use of MoS@FeO core-shell micromotors prepared by a hydrothermal approach to explore the degradation of plastic microparticles. Polystyrene was chosen as the model plastic due to its wide distribution and resistance to degradation using current approaches. Micromotors show photophoretic-based motion at speeds of up to 6 mm s and schooling behavior under full solar light spectra irradiation without the need for fuel or surfactants. During this impressive collective behavior, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated because of the semiconducting nature of the MoS. Degradation of polystyrene beads is observed after 4 h irradiation because of the synergistic effect of ROS production and localized heat generation. The MoS@FeO micromotors possess magnetic properties, which allow further cleaning and removal to be carried out after irradiation through magnetic pulling. The new micromotors hold considerable promise for full-scale treatment applications, only limited by our imagination.
微塑料是高度持久的新兴污染物，广泛分布于环境中。我们报道了使用水热法制备的MoS@FeO核壳微马达来探索塑料微粒的降解。由于聚苯乙烯分布广泛且采用当前方法难以降解，因此选择其作为模型塑料。微马达在全太阳光谱照射下，无需燃料或表面活性剂，就能以高达6毫米/秒的速度进行基于光泳的运动，并呈现集群行为。在这种令人印象深刻的集群行为中，由于MoS的半导体性质会产生活性氧（ROS）。照射4小时后，由于ROS产生和局部发热的协同作用，观察到聚苯乙烯珠发生降解。MoS@FeO微马达具有磁性，这使得照射后可以通过磁力牵引进一步进行清洁和去除。这种新型微马达在大规模处理应用方面具有巨大潜力，唯一的限制只在于我们的想象力。
