title: Tissue cell assisted fabrication of tubular catalytic platinum microengines.
abstract: We report a facile platform for mass production of robust self-propelled tubular microengines. Tissue cells extracted from fruits of banana and apple, Musa acuminata and Malus domestica, are used as the support on which a thin platinum film is deposited by means of physical vapor deposition. Upon sonication of the cells/Pt-coated substrate in water, microscrolls of highly uniform sizes are spontaneously formed. Tubular microengines fabricated with the fruit cell assisted method exhibit a fast motion of ∼100 bodylengths per s (∼1 mm s(-1)). An extremely simple and affordable platform for mass production of the micromotors is crucial for the envisioned swarms of thousands and millions of autonomous micromotors performing biomedical and environmental remediation tasks.
authors.affiliation: Division of Chemistry & Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore. pumera@ntu.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: James Guo Sheng
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Moo
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pumera
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004735:Energy Transfer; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008422:Materials Testing; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008904:Miniaturization; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D009038:Motion; D028521:Musa / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry*; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012767:Ships / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D010984:Platinum