Microrobots enhance contact with pollutants through their movement and flow-induced mixing, substantially improving wastewater treatment efficiency beyond traditional diffusion-limited methods. g-C3N4 is an affordable and environmentally friendly photocatalyst that has been extensively researched in various fields such as biomedicine and environmental remediation. However, compared to other photocatalytic materials like TiO2 and ZnO, which are widely used in the fabrication of micro- and nanorobots, research on g-C3N4 for these applications is still in its early stages. This work presents microrobots entirely based on g-C3N4 microtubes, which can initiate autonomous movement when exposed to ultraviolet and visible light. We observed distinct motion behaviors of the microrobots under light irradiation of different wavelengths. Specifically, under ultraviolet light, the microrobots exhibit negative photogravitaxis, while under visible light, they demonstrate a combination of 3-dimensional motion and 2-dimensional motion. Therefore, the wavelength of the light can be used for programming the motion style of the microrobots and subsequently their application. We show that the microrobots can effectively degrade the antibiotic tetracycline, displaying their potential for antibiotic removal. This exploration of autonomous motion behaviors under different wavelength conditions helps to expand research on g-C3N4-based microrobots and their potential for environmental remediation.

Advanced Nanorobots and Multiscale Robotics Laboratory Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science VSB Technical University of Ostrava Ostrava 70800 Czech Republic

Department of Medical Research China Medical University Hospital China Medical University Taichung TW 40402 Taiwan

Future Energy and Innovation Laboratory Central European Institute of Technology Brno University of Technology Brno 61200 Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Li J, Esteban-Fernández de Ávila B, Gao W, Zhang L, Wang J. Micro/nanorobots for biomedicine: Delivery, surgery, sensing, and detoxification. Sci Rob. 2017;2(4): Article eaam6431. PubMed PMC

Palagi S, Fischer P. Bioinspired microrobots. Nat Rev Mater. 2018;3(6):113–124.

Mayorga-Martinez CC, Pumera M. Self-propelled tags for protein detection. Adv Funct Mater. 2019;30(6): Article 1906449.

Karshalev E, Esteban-Fernández de Ávila B, Wang J. Micromotors for “chemistry-on-the-fly”. J Am Chem Soc. 2018;140(11):3810–3820. PubMed

Chen C, Ding S, Wang J. Materials consideration for the design, fabrication and operation of microscale robots. Nat Rev Mater. 2024;9(3):159–172.

Parmar J, Vilela D, Villa K, Wang J, Sánchez S. Micro- and nanomotors as active environmental microcleaners and sensors. J Am Chem Soc. 2018;140(30):9317–9331. PubMed

Ying Y, Plutnar J, Pumera M. Six-degree-of-freedom steerable visible-light-driven microsubmarines using water as a fuel: Application for explosives decontamination. Small. 2021;17(23): Article 2100294. PubMed

Vutukuri HR, Lisicki M, Lauga E, Vermant J. Light-switchable propulsion of active particles with reversible interactions. Nat Commun. 2020;11(1): Article 2628. PubMed PMC

He X, Jiang H, Li J, Ma Y, Fu B, Hu C. Dipole-moment induced phototaxis and fuel-free propulsion of ZnO/Pt Janus micromotors. Small. 2021;17(31): Article 2101388. PubMed

Huang H, Yang S, Ying Y, Chen X, Puigmartí-Luis J, Zhang L, Pané S. 3D motion manipulation for micro- and nanomachines: Progress and future directions. Adv Mater. 2024;36(1): Article 2305925. PubMed

Dai B, Zhou Y, Xiao X, Chen Y, Guo J, Gao C, Xie Y, Chen J. Fluid field modulation in mass transfer for efficient photocatalysis. Adv Sci. 2022;9(28): Article 2203057. PubMed PMC

Chen X, Ding X, Liu Y, Li J, Liu W, Lu X, Gu Z. Highly efficient visible-light-driven Cu

Rojas D, Kuthanova M, Dolezelikova K, Pumera M. Facet nanoarchitectonics of visible-light driven Ag

Mayorga-Burrezo P, Mayorga-Martinez CC, Pumera M. Light-driven micromotors to dissociate protein aggregates that cause neurodegenerative diseases. Adv Funct Mater. 2021;32(1): Article 2106699.

Fu J, Yu J, Jiang C, Cheng B. g-C

Wang N, Cheng L, Liao Y, Xiang Q. Effect of functional group modifications on the photocatalytic performance of g-C PubMed

Rayaroth MP, Lee G, Chang Y-S. Recent developments in graphitic carbon nitride (g-C

Villa K, Manzanares Palenzuela CL, Sofer Z, Matějková S, Pumera M. Metal-free visible-light photoactivated C PubMed

Ye Z, Sun Y, Zhang H, Song B, Dong B. A phototactic micromotor based on platinum nanoparticle decorated carbon nitride. Nanoscale. 2017;9(46):18516–18522. PubMed

Song X, Tao Y, Liu J, Lin J, Dai P, Wang Q, Li W, Chen W, Zheng C. Photocatalytic-induced bubble-propelled isotropic g-C PubMed PMC

Guo S, Deng Z, Li M, Jiang B, Tian C, Pan Q, Fu H. Phosphorus-doped carbon nitride tubes with a layered micro-nanostructure for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016;55(5):1830–1834. PubMed

Cao S, Low J, Yu J, Jaroniec M. Polymeric photocatalysts based on graphitic carbon nitride. Adv Mater. 2015;27(13):2150–2176. PubMed

Zhang L, Ding N, Hashimoto M, Iwasaki K, Chikamori N, Nakata K, Xu Y, Shi J, Wu H, Luo Y, et al. Sodium-doped carbon nitride nanotubes for efficient visible light-driven hydrogen production. Nano Res. 2018;11(4):2295–2309.

Yang Y, Liu J, Zhou C, Zhang P, Guo S, Li S, Meng X, Lu Y, Xu H, Ma H, et al.

Liu D, Chen D, Li N, Xu Q, Li H, He J, Lu J. Surface engineering of g-C PubMed

Li X, Qiu Y, Zhu Z, Zhang H, Yin D. Novel recyclable Z-scheme g-C

Li C, Tian Q, Zhang Y, Li Y, Yang X, Zheng H, Chen L, Li F. Sequential combination of photocatalysis and microalgae technology for promoting the degradation and detoxification of typical antibiotics. Water Res. 2022;210: Article 117985. PubMed

Zhang Y, Chen Z, Li J, Lu Z, Wang X. Self-assembled synthesis of oxygen-doped g-C

Gashi A, Parmentier J, Fioux P, Marsalek R. Tuning the C/N ratio of C-rich graphitic carbon nitride (g-C PubMed

Makula P, Pacia M, Macyk W. How to correctly determine the band gap energy of modified semiconductor photocatalysts based on UV–vis spectra. J Phys Chem Lett. 2018;9(23):6814–6817. PubMed

Tay Q, Kanhere P, Ng CF, Chen S, Chakraborty S, Huan ACH, Sum TC, Ahuja R, Chen Z. Defect engineered g-C

Mohamed MA, Zain MFM, Minggu LJ, Kassim MB, Amin NAS, Salleh WNW, Salehmin MNI, Nasir MFM, Hir ZAM. Constructing bio-templated 3D porous microtubular C-doped g-C

Liu X, Kang W, Zeng W, Zhang Y, Qi L, Ling F, Fang L, Chen Q, Zhou M. Structural, electronic and photocatalytic properties of g-C

Jancik-Prochazkova A, Kmentova H, Ju X, Kment S, Zboril R, Pumera M. Precision engineering of nanorobots: Toward single atom decoration and defect control for enhanced microplastic capture. Adv Funct Mater. 2024;34(38): Article 2402567.

Urso M, Ussia M, Novotný F, Pumera M. Trapping and detecting nanoplastics by MXene-derived oxide microrobots. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1): Article 3573. PubMed PMC

Stoll S, Schweiger A. EasySpin, a comprehensive software package for spectral simulation and analysis in EPR. J Magn Reson. 2006;178(1):42–55. PubMed

Zhao H, Joseph J, Zhang H, Karoui H, Kalyanaraman B. Synthesis and biochemical applications of a solid cyclic nitrone spin trap: A relatively superior trap for detecting superoxide anions and glutathiyl radicals. Free Radic Biol Med. 2001;31:599–606. PubMed

Misak A, Brezova V, Chovanec M, Luspai K, Nasim MJ, Grman M, Tomasova L, Jacob C, Ondrias K. EPR study of KO PubMed PMC

Feng K, Gong J, Qu J, Niu R. Dual-mode-driven micromotor based on foam-like carbon nitride and Fe PubMed

Zhu Z, Lu Z, Wang D, Tang X, Yan Y, Shi W, Wang Y, Gao N, Yao X, Dong H. Construction of high-dispersed Ag/Fe

Singh DP, Uspal WE, Popescu MN, Wilson LG, Fischer P. Photogravitactic microswimmers. Adv Funct Mater. 2018;28(25): Article 1706660.

Abbasnia A, Zarei A, Yeganeh M, Sobhi HR, Gholami M, Esrafili A. Removal of tetracycline antibiotics by adsorption and photocatalytic-degradation processes in aqueous solutions using metal organic frameworks (MOFs): A systematic review. Inorg Chem Commun. 2022;145: Article 109959.

Zheng Q, Durkin DP, Elenewski JE, Sun Y, Banek NA, Hua L, Chen H, Wagner MJ, Zhang W, Shuai D. Visible-light-responsive graphitic carbon nitride: Rational design and photocatalytic applications for water treatment. Environ Sci Technol. 2016;50(23):12938–12948. PubMed

Xing J, Huang X, Yong X, Li X, Li J, Wang J, Wang N, Hao H.

Gao S, Chen X, Fang X, Cheng Z, Wang Y, Gao D, Guo Q, Wang L, Hu X. Photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline by g-C

Sun H, Guo F, Pan J, Huang W, Wang K, Shi W. One-pot thermal polymerization route to prepare N-deficient modified g-C

Luo Y, Zhu Y, Han Y, Ye H, Liu R, Lan Y, Xue M, Xie X, Yu S, Zhang L, et al. g-C

He D, Yang H, Jin D, Qu J, Yuan X, Zhang Y-N, Huo M, Peijnenburg WJGM. Rapid water purification using modified graphitic carbon nitride and visible light. Appl Catal B Environ. 2021;285: Article 119864.

Yan W, Yan L, Jing C. Impact of doped metals on urea-derived g-C

Ju Y, Li H, Wang Z, Liu H, Huo S, Jiang S, Duan S, Yao Y, Lu X, Chen F. Solar-driven on-site H

Zhang H, Li W, Yan Y, Wang W, Ren Y, Li X. Synthesis of highly porous g-C