High-speed graphene@Ag-MnO2 micromotors at low peroxide levels

Heng Ye; Jian Kang; Guofeng Ma; Hongqi Sun; Shaobin Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.05.088

High-speed graphene@Ag-MnO₂ micromotors at low peroxide levels

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Oct 15:528:271-280. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.05.088. Epub 2018 May 25.

Authors

Heng Ye¹, Jian Kang¹, Guofeng Ma², Hongqi Sun³, Shaobin Wang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia.
² Key Lab of Advanced Materials Technology of Educational Department Liaoning Province, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China.
³ School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia 6027, Australia. Electronic address: h.sun@ecu.edu.au.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia. Electronic address: shaobin.wang@curtin.edu.au.

PMID: 29859452
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.05.088

Abstract

Platinum (Pt) free micro/nanomotors (MNMs) using a low content of fuels are highly desired for many applications. Herein, we demonstrate that cathodic electrofabrication can produce modified MnO₂ based microtubes and microrods as highly efficient MNMs in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) as low as 0.2%. The speed of graphene/Ag-MnO₂ micromotors could be smartly regulated using a surfactant and the maximum speed of an individual micromotor exceeds 1.3 mm s^-1 in 0.5% H₂O₂. The propelling force and output power of the micromotors are 3.4 and 10 times as high as those of the best Pt-based micromotors reported. These Ag-MnO₂ based micromotors are envisioned to be a great promise for practical applications from biomedical delivery to environmental decontamination.

Keywords: Ag-MnO(2); Cathodic electroreduction deposition; Graphene; High-speed microengines.