Technology Roadmap of Micro/Nanorobots.

Journal: ACS nano
Published Date: Jun 27, 2025

Abstract

Inspired by Richard Feynman's 1959 lecture and the 1966 film , the field of micro/nanorobots has evolved from science fiction to reality, with significant advancements in biomedical and environmental applications. Despite the rapid progress, the deployment of functional micro/nanorobots remains limited. This review of the technology roadmap identifies key challenges hindering their widespread use, focusing on propulsion mechanisms, fundamental theoretical aspects, collective behavior, material design, and embodied intelligence. We explore the current state of micro/nanorobot technology, with an emphasis on applications in biomedicine, environmental remediation, analytical sensing, and other industrial technological aspects. Additionally, we analyze issues related to scaling up production, commercialization, and regulatory frameworks that are crucial for transitioning from research to practical applications. We also emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to address both technical and nontechnical challenges, such as sustainability, ethics, and business considerations. Finally, we propose a roadmap for future research to accelerate the development of micro/nanorobots, positioning them as essential tools for addressing grand challenges and enhancing the quality of life.

Authors

  • Xiaohui Ju
    Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 123, Brno 61200, Czech Republic.
  • Chuanrui Chen
    Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
  • Cagatay M Oral
    Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory, Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 123, 61200, Brno, Czech Republic. martin.pumera@ceitec.vutbr.cz.
  • Semih Sevim
    Multi-Scale Robotics Lab, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, Tannenstrasse 3, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
  • Ramin Golestanian
    Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS), 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
  • Mengmeng Sun
  • Negin Bouzari
    Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute for Polymer Research, Center for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
  • Xiankun Lin
    School of Medicine and Health, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China.
  • Mario Urso
    Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory, Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 123, Brno 61200, Czech Republic.
  • Jong Seok Nam
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
  • Yujang Cho
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
  • Xia Peng
    Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory, Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkyňova 123, Brno 61200, Czech Republic.
  • Fabian C Landers
    Multi-Scale Robotics Lab, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, Tannenstrasse 3, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
  • Shihao Yang
    Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
  • Azin Adibi
    Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada.
  • Nahid Taz
    Acoustic Robotics Systems Lab, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, ETH Zurich, Rüschlikon, CH 8803, Switzerland.
  • Raphael Wittkowski
    DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Forckenbeckstr. 50, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
  • Daniel Ahmed
    Acoustic Robotics Systems Lab, Institute or Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. dahmed@ethz.ch.
  • Wei Wang
    State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, China.
  • Veronika Magdanz
    Systems Design and Biomedical Engineering, Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
  • Mariana Medina-Sánchez
    Micro and Nano-biomedical Engineering Group at the Leibniz IFW in Dresden, Germany.
  • Maria Guix
    Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Baldiri i Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona Spain.
  • Naimat Bari
    Mechanical Engineering Department, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States.
  • Bahareh Behkam
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States of America.
  • Raymond Kapral
    Chemical Physics Theory Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
  • Yaxin Huang
    Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China.
  • Jinyao Tang
    Department of Chemistry , The University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong 999077 , China.
  • Ben Wang
    Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin N.T., Hong Kong, China.
  • Konstantin Morozov
    Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
  • Alexander Leshansky
    Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
  • Sarmad Ahmad Abbasi
    Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Daegu 42988, South Korea.
  • Hongsoo Choi
    Department of Robotics Engineering, DGIST-ETH Microrobot Research Center, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), 333 Techno Jungang-daero, Hyeonpung-Myeon, Dalseong-Gun, Daegu, 42988, Republic of Korea.
  • Subhadip Ghosh
    Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
  • Bárbara Borges Fernandes
    Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya (IBEC), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
  • Giuseppe Battaglia
    Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
  • Peer Fischer
  • Ambarish Ghosh
    Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
  • Beatriz Jurado Sánchez
    Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Alcala, Alcala de Henares E-28802 Madrid, Spain.
  • Alberto Escarpa
    Department of Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering, Universidad de Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Madrid, E-28802, Spain.
  • Quentin Martinet
    Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria.
  • Jérémie Palacci
    Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria.
  • Eric Lauga
    Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, UK.
  • Jeffrey Moran
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, George Mason University, Manassas, Virginia 20110, United States.
  • Miguel A Ramos-Docampo
    Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, Aarhus 8000, Denmark.
  • Brigitte Städler
    Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, Aarhus 8000, Denmark.
  • Ramón Santiago Herrera Restrepo
    Department of Materials Science and Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
  • Gilad Yossifon
    School of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Tel-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.
  • James D Nicholas
    Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física, Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
  • Jordi Ignés-Mullol
    Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona 08028, Spain.
  • Josep Puigmartí-Luis
    Departament de Ciència dels Materials i Química Física, Institut de Química Teòrica I Computacional, Barcelona, 08028, Spain.
  • Yutong Liu
    School of Economics and Management, Communication University of China, Beijing 100024, China.
  • Lauren D Zarzar
    Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 United States.
  • C Wyatt Shields
    Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80303, United States.
  • Longqiu Li
    State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150001, China.
  • Shanshan Li
    Department of Nephrology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
  • Xing Ma
    Center for Higher Education Research and Teaching Quality Evaluation, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150000, China.
  • David H Gracias
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, United States of America.
  • Orlin Velev
    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7905, United States.
  • Samuel Sanchez
  • Maria Jose Esplandiu
    Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Juliane Simmchen
    Pure and Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G1 1BX, United Kingdom.
  • Antonio Lobosco
    Surgical Robotics Laboratory, Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, 7522 NB, Enschede, The Netherlands.
  • Sarthak Misra
    Surgical Robotics Laboratory, Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands.
  • Zhiguang Wu
    Key Laboratory of Microsystems and Microstructures Manufacturing (Ministry of Education), Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. zhiguangwu@hit.edu.cn qianghe@hit.edu.cn.
  • Jinxing Li
    Department of NanoEngineering , University of California San Diego , La Jolla , California 92093 , United States.
  • Alexander Kühn
    Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany; Center of Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM), University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.
  • Amir Nourhani
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mathematics, Biology, Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325, United States.
  • Tijana Maric
    Division of Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences , Nanyang Technological University , 637371 Singapore.
  • Ze Xiong
    Department of Chemistry , The University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong 999077 , China.
  • Amirreza Aghakhani
    Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
  • Yongfeng Mei
    Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
  • Yingfeng Tu
    Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China; Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150000, China; Department of Cardiology, The Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Taiyuan 030000, China. Electronic address: tyfdoctor@163.com.
  • Fei Peng
    College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.
  • Eric Diller
    Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G8 Canada.
  • Mahmut Selman Sakar
  • Ayusman Sen
    Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.
  • Junhui Law
    Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G8, Canada.
  • Yu Sun
    Department of Neurology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
  • Abdon Pena-Francesch
    Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
  • Katherine Villa
    Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, Prague, 166 28, Czech Republic.
  • Huaizhi Li
    Materials Science and Engineering Program, Texas Materials Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Austin Texas 78712, United States.
  • Donglei Emma Fan
    Materials Science and Engineering Program, Texas Materials Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Austin Texas 78712, United States.
  • Kang Liang
    School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 Australia.
  • Tony Jun Huang
  • Xiang-Zhong Chen
    Multi-Scale Robotics Lab (MSRL), Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS), ETH Zurich, Zurich, CH-8092, Switzerland.
  • Songsong Tang
    Department of NanoEngineering and Chemical Engineering Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
  • Xueji Zhang
    Research Center for Bioengineering and Sensing Technology, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China. josephwang@ucsd.edu zhang@ucsd.edu zhangxueji@ustb.edu.cn.
  • Jizhai Cui
    International Institute of Intelligent Nanorobots and Nanosystems & State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, College of Intelligent Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, People's Republic of China.
  • Hong Wang
    Department of Cardiology, Liuzhou Workers' Hospital, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Liuzhou, China.
  • Wei Gao
    Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
  • Vineeth Kumar Bandari
    Research Center for Materials, Architectures and Integration of Nanomembranes (MAIN), Chemnitz University of Technology, 09126 Chemnitz, Germany.
  • Oliver G Schmidt
    Institute for Integrative Nanosciences at the Leibniz IFW in Dresden, Germany. Oliver G. Schmidt is also Professor of Material Systems for Nanoelectronics at Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany.
  • Xianghua Wu
    State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, International School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
  • Jianguo Guan
    State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing International School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, 122 Luoshi Road, Wuhan, 430070, P. R. China.
  • Metin Sitti
  • Bradley J Nelson
  • Salvador Pané
  • Li Zhang
    Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
  • Hamed Shahsavan
    Department of Chemical Engineering, and Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada.
  • Qiang He
    College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Healthy Food Evaluation Research Center, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
  • Il-Doo Kim
    Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
  • Joseph Wang
    Department of NanoEngineering , University of California, San Diego , La Jolla , California 92093 , United States.
  • Martin Pumera
    Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University , Singapore 637371.

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