Robust MnO 2 ‐Based Micromotors for Broad‐Tolerance Propulsion in Various Surfactant Environments

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

MnO 2 ‐based micro/nanomotors (MNMs) are becoming increasingly popular for their low cost, low toxicity, good motion behavior, abundance merits, and potential for large‐scale production to address diverse practical issues. MnO 2 ‐based MNMs in peroxide‐surfactant systems are promising for practical applications, but no systematic investigation has been conducted to clarify the effect of different surfactants, an essential requirement for bubble‐propelling MNMs, on motion behavior. Thus, four single‐component pure surfactants and two mixed surfactants of commercially available washing detergents were selected to elucidate the surfactants’ impact on the motile behaviors of MnO 2 ‐based micromotors. The MnO 2 ‐based micromotors show robust, broad‐tolerance movement under all different surfactant conditions. Low surfactant levels of 0.2%–0.5% yield motion and top speeds of 300–500 µm s − 1 at their optimal surfactant contents, with mostly circular motion patterns that are quite independent of the different types of surfactants used. This study advances our understanding of the motion behavior of MnO 2 ‐based MNMs at the nanoscale and offers valuable insights for their future practical applications. The surfactant's broad‐tolerance propulsion could revolutionize micromotor technology for real‐world environmental remediation and may trigger other novel applications across diverse fields.