Nanobots coated with ‘wonder material’ graphene are the latest anti-pollution development for global waterways.

An international collaboration of scientists demonstrated that the microscopic machines (each smaller than the width of a human hair) are capable of removing 95% of the lead found in wastewater in less than an hour.

Project research leader Dr Samuel Sánchez of the Max Planck Institute for Intellighent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, said: “This work is a step toward the development of a smart remediation system where we can target and remove traces of pollutants without producing an additional contamination. This is a new application of smart nanodevices for environmental applications. The use of self-powered nanomachines that can capture heavy metals from contaminated solutions, transport them to desired places, and even release them for ‘closing the loop’ – that is a proof-of-concept towards industrial applications.

“We plan to extend the microbots to other contaminants and also, importantly, reduce the fabrication costs and mass-produce them.”

In these experiments, the graphene-coated robots were controlled with a precise magnetic field; in the future, however, autonomous guidance is a distinct possibility. Once loaded with pollutants, the nano-robots were guided to a collection point where an acidic solution was used to remove the lead ions; they were then ready to continue their task of decontamination.

It is hoped that a similar technique could be implemented in drug delivery.

The work has published in the online journal NANO Letters and can be viewed here.

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