A Bio-Inspired Magnetic Soft Robotic Fish for Efficient Solar-Energy Driven Water Purification.

Journal: Small methods
PMID: 39449204

Abstract

Solar-driven water evaporation is a promising solution for global water scarcity but is still facing challenges due to its substantial energy requirements. Here, a magnetic soft robotic bionic fish is developed by combining magnetic nanoparticles (FeO), poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), and carboxymethyl chitosan. This bionic fish can release liquid water through hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase transition and dramatically reduce energy consumption. The introduced FeO nanoparticles endow the bionic fish with magnetic actuation capability, allowing for remote operation and recovery. Additionally, the magnetic actuation process accelerates the water absorption rate of the bionic fish as confirmed by the finite element simulations. The results demonstrate that bionic fish can effectively remove not only organic molecular dyes dissolved in water but also harmful microbes and insoluble microparticles from natural lakes. Moreover, the bionic fish maintains a good purification efficiency even after five recycling cycles. Furthermore, the bionic fish possesses other functions, such as salt purification and salt rejection. Finally, the mechanism of water purification is explained in conjunction with molecular dynamics calculations. This work provides a new approach for efficient solar-energy water purification by phase transition behavior in soft robotics.

Authors

  • Jingjing Qin
    The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, International Joint Research Laboratory for Nano Energy Composites, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.
  • Jiahao Li
  • Guozheng Yang
    State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
  • Kaibin Chu
    The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, International Joint Research Laboratory for Nano Energy Composites, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.
  • Leiqian Zhang
    The Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, International Joint Research Laboratory for Nano Energy Composites, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, P. R. China.
  • FangPing Xu
    Department of Pathology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital & Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
  • Yujie Chen
    State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Electronics and Information Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, 510275 Guangzhou, China.
  • Yaoxin Zhang
    College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, Xinjiang, China.
  • Wei Fan
    Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
  • Johan Hofkens
    Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, Leuven, 3001, Belgium.
  • Bo Li
    Electric Power Research Institute, Yunnan Power Grid Co., Ltd., Kunming, Yunnan, China.
  • YinBo Zhu
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Modern Mechanics, CAS Center for Excellence in Complex System Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, P. R. China.
  • HengAn Wu
    CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Department of Modern Mechanics, CAS Center for Excellence in Complex System Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, P. R. China.
  • Swee Ching Tan
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117574, Singapore.
  • Feili Lai
    State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, P. R. China.
  • Tianxi Liu
    School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.

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