Microorganisms in nature (e.g., green algae) are well known for their bi-directional phototaxis. It can either swim toward the direction of low light in order to obtain more energy through photosynthesis, or it can move away from strong light in order to avoid damage or escape from predators. Inspired by green algae, efforts have been made to develop swimming micro/nanorobots that can sense light intensity changes and can move autonomously. However, this requires each component comprising the swimming micro/nanorobot to be self-aware and self-adaptive to light, and is therefore extremely difficult to achieve.
Recently, Professor Bin Dong of our institute, together with Researcher Mingcheng Yang of Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Renfeng Dong of South China Normal University, developed a swimming micro/nanorobot based on carbon nitride/polypyrrole nanoparticles. This swimming micro/nanorobots exhibit bi-directional phototactic motility under light irradiation which is very similar to that of green algae, i.e. positive phototaxis (toward light) under low light and negative phototaxis (away from light) under high light.This ability to sense light intensity changes and to move autonomously is mainly attributed to the self-awareness and self-adaptability resulting from the synergy and competition between the two light responsive components comprising the swimming micro/nanorobots. This research work lays the foundation for the design, synthesis, and application of the next-generation autonomous materials that are self-aware, adaptive, intelligent and executable.
Link to paper：https://www.pnas.org/content/118/42/e2104481118.short
Title：Bioinspired micro/nanomotor with visible light energy–dependent forward, reverse, reciprocating, and spinning schooling motion
Author information：Jintao Tong,1Dalei Wang,1Ye Liu,1Xin Lou, Jiwei Jiang, Bin Dong,* Renfeng Dong,* Mingcheng Yang*
Acknowledgement：This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant 2018YFE0306105), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22173068 and 11874397), and the Collaborative Innovation and the Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology. This work was also supported by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, the 111 Project, Joint International Research Laboratory of Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices, the Fund for Excellent Creative Research Teams of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDB33000000).
Editor: Danting Xiang