Metal‐Organic‐Framework based Catalytic Micromotor for Enhanced Water Decontamination

Abstract

AbstractThis work demonstrates the application of a Fe3O4/zeolitic imidazolate framework 67 (ZIF67) micromotor for improved catalytic degradation of organic pollutants. The micromotors were fabricated by simple adsorption of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on the surface of ZIF67 microparticles, which were synthesized by wet chemistry method. Both Fe3O4 and ZIF67 perform asymmetric decomposition of H2O2 to achieve bubble propulsion of the micromotors. The ferromagnetism of Fe3O4 enables easy directional control of the micromotor. The porous structure of ZIF67 benefits the enrichment of pollutant molecules around the micromotors, facilitating the efficient catalytic degradation. With intensified interaction between active sites and pollutant molecules due to self‐propelled motion and synergistic catalysis of iron in Fe3O4 and zinc ions in ZIF67, the micromotors exhibit enhanced degradation activity of methylene blue as compared to the pure Fe3O4 or ZIF67 counterparts without autonomous motion. This research can be extended to developing other metal‐organic frameworks (MOF)‐integrated micromotors for the environmental applications.