INNOVATION
Bionic robo fish
Scientists have designed a tiny robot-fish that is programmed to remove microplastics from seas and oceans by swimming around and adsorbing them on its soft, flexible, self-healing body. The robo-fish is just 13mm long, and thanks to a light laser system in its tail, swims and flaps around at almost 30mm a second, similar to the speed at which plankton drift around in moving water. The researchers created the robot from materials inspired by elements that thrive in the sea: mother-of-pearl, also known as nacre, is the interior covering of clam shells. The team created a material similar to nacre by layering various microscopic sheets of molecules according to nacre’s specific chemical gradient. This made them a robo-fish that is stretchy, flexible to twist, and even able to pull up to 5kg in weight. Most importantly, the bionic fish can adsorb nearby free-floating bits of microplastics because the organic dyes, antibiotics, and heavy metals in the microplastics have strong chemical bonds and electrostatic interactions with the fish’s materials. That makes them cling on to its surface, so the fish can collect and remove microplastics from the water. While this is just a proof of concept with more real-world research needed, the bionic design could offer a launchpad for other similar projects.
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