Corrosion of light powered Pt/TiO2 microrobots

Abstract

Catalytic light-powered microrobots have become a major focus in the current autonomous self-propelled micromotors research. The attractiveness of such machines stems from the fact that these motors are liquid “fuel-free”, with their motion modulated by irradiation. It is assumed that as catalytic micro/nanoparticles, they can function eternally. We show here that Pt/TiO2 photo powered micromachines undergo corrosion and that they lose catalytic activity several days after deployment.