Rational Design of Reversible Redox Shuttle for Highly Efficient Light-Driven Microswimmer.
ACS Nano
; 14(3): 3272-3280, 2020 03 24.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32125822
ABSTRACT
The light-driven micro/nanomotor (LMNM) is machinery that harvests photon energy and generates self-propulsion in varieties of liquid media. Though visions are made that these tiny swimming machines can serve future medicine for accurate drug delivery and noninvasive microsurgery, their biomedical application is still impeded by the insufficient propulsion efficiency. Here we provide a holistic model of LMNM by considering (i) photovoltaic, (ii) electrochemical, and (iii) electrokinetic processes therein. Such a quantitative model revealed the pivotal role of reaction kinetics and diffusion properties of shuttle ions in the propulsion efficiency of LMNM. With the guidance of this model, a group of ferrocene-based reversible redox shuttles, which generate slow-diffusion ions, was identified, showcasing a high locomotion velocity of â¼500 µm/s (â¼100 body length per second) at an ultralow concentration (70 µM). Owing to the in-depth understanding of the fundamental energy conversion processes in LMNM, we anticipate that the development of other high-performance supporting chemicals and LMNM systems will be greatly motivated, foreseeing the advent of LMNM systems with superior efficiency.
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
ACS Nano
Year:
2020
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China