Micromachines gain momentum in the applications for environmental remediation. Magnetic components have been used to functionalize light-responsive micromachines to achieve efficient magnetic microrobots with photodegradation activity for decomposition of environmental pollutants. However, the influence of photocatalyst itself on the trajectory of micromotors in conjunction with magnetic motion was never considered. In this work, light-powered catalysis and transversal rotating magnetic field have been independently and simultaneously applied over Fe3O4@BiVO4 microrobots to investigate the dynamics of their hybrid motion. Light exposure of microrobots results in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which power the microrobots, in addition to magnetic powered motion, and have a strong influence on the magnetic trajectories, resulting in an unexpected alteration of the direction of the motion of the microrobots. We have subsequently applied such magnetic/light powered micromachines for removal of microplastics in cigarette filter residues, one of the major contributors to the microplastic pollution, and dyes via photocatalysis. Such dual orthogonal propulsion modes act independently on the motion of the micromachines; and they also bring additional functionality as photodegradation agents. Hence, the dual magnetic/photocatalytic microrobots shall find a variety of catalytic applications in different fields.

Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots Department of Inorganic Chemistry University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 166 28 Prague 6 Czech Republic

Center for Advanced Functional Nanorobots Department of Inorganic Chemistry University of Chemistry and Technology Prague Technická 5 166 28 Prague 6 Czech Republic; Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science VSB Technical University of Ostrava 17 listopadu 2172 15 70800 Ostrava Czech Republic; Department of Medical Research China Medical University Hospital China Medical University No 91 Hsueh Shih Road Taichung 40402 Taiwan; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Yonsei University 50 Yonsei ro Seodaemun gu Seoul 03722 Republic of Korea

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