Reversing a Platinum Micromotor by Introducing Platinum Oxide

Xianglong Lyu; Jingyuan Chen; Jiayu Liu; Yixin Peng; Shifang Duan; Xing Ma; Wei Wang

doi:10.1002/anie.202201018

Reversing a Platinum Micromotor by Introducing Platinum Oxide

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2022 Jun 13;61(24):e202201018. doi: 10.1002/anie.202201018. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Authors

Xianglong Lyu^{1

2}, Jingyuan Chen^{1

3}, Jiayu Liu¹, Yixin Peng¹, Shifang Duan¹, Xing Ma¹, Wei Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Sauvage Laboratory for Smart Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China.
² Current address: Physical Intelligence Department, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.
³ Current address: Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China.

PMID: 35366368
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202201018

Abstract

Understanding and controlling the swimming direction of a synthetic nano- and micromotor holds fundamental and applied significance. Here, we focus on platinum-containing Janus colloids that catalytically decompose H₂ O₂ into O₂ , an archetypical model of chemical micromotor. We discover that platinum oxides (primarily PtO) are produced on Pt films sputter-coated in O₂ plasma, and PtO reverses the motor possibly by self-electrophoresis. Using this knowledge, micromotors moving in either direction were fabricated by intentionally introducing or removing PtO. These findings challenge the conventional wisdom that a Pt micromotor is powered by Pt alone, and open up new avenues for controlling the swimming directions of a micro- and nanomachine.

Keywords: Micromotors; Platinum Oxide; Self-Diffusiophoresis; Self-Electrophoresis; Sputtering.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Colloids
Oxides*
Platinum*

Substances

Colloids
Oxides
platinum oxide
Platinum