Autonomous magnetic microbots for environmental remediation developed by organic waste derived carbon dots

Abstract

Biodegradable precursors for micro/nanobots development are key requirements for several sustainable applications. In this regard, we propose an innovative solution for water purification at minimum cost and efforts where organic waste is used for the treatment of organic pollutants. Herein, catalytic magnetic microbots were developed by functionalizing iron oxide nanoparticles with carbon dots (C-Dots), which were synthesized by using household waste such as potato peels as precursors. The speed of these autonomously propelling bots indeed is found very promising for large distance swimming even in viscous medium by using hydrogen peroxide as fuel. These microbots catalytically propel and degrade toxic polar as well as sparingly water-soluble industrial dyes without any external agitation. The degradation of dyes was confirmed by mass-spectra analysis. Furthermore, these microbots can efficiently degrade a mixture of dyes and reused without compromising its performance significantly. Additionally, rate constant (K) and activation energy (Ea) were also determined to establish the catalytic nature of the bots. The present microbots acted as nanozyme owing to its synergistic catalytic activity of Fe3O4 and C-Dots for degradation of mixture of toxic dyes, essential for large scale water treatment.