Biohybrid Microalgae Robots: Design, Fabrication, Materials, and Applications.

Journal: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
PMID: 37471001

Abstract

The integration of microorganisms and engineered artificial components has shown considerable promise for creating biohybrid microrobots. The unique features of microalgae make them attractive candidates as natural actuation materials for the design of biohybrid microrobotic systems. In this review, microalgae-based biohybrid microrobots are introduced for diverse biomedical and environmental applications. The distinct propulsion and phototaxis behaviors of green microalgae, as well as important properties from other photosynthetic microalga systems (blue-green algae and diatom) that are crucial to constructing powerful biohybrid microrobots, will be described first. Then the focus is on chemical and physical routes for functionalizing the algae surface with diverse reactive materials toward the fabrication of advanced biohybrid microalgae robots. Finally, representative applications of such algae-driven microrobots are presented, including drug delivery, imaging, and water decontamination, highlighting the distinct advantages of these active biohybrid robots, along with future prospects and challenges.

Authors

  • Fangyu Zhang
    Department of NanoEngineering and Chemical Engineering Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
  • Zhengxing Li
    Electric Power Research Institute, Yunnan Power Grid Co., Ltd., Kunming, Yunnan, China.
  • Chuanrui Chen
    Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
  • Hao Luan
    Department of Nanoengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
  • Ronnie H Fang
    Department of NanoEngineering and Chemical Engineering Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
  • Liangfang Zhang
    Department of NanoEngineering , University of California, San Diego , La Jolla , California 92093 , United States.
  • Joseph Wang
    Department of NanoEngineering , University of California, San Diego , La Jolla , California 92093 , United States.

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