Nanoengineers have
invented tiny tube-shaped micromotors that zoom around
in water and
efficiently remove carbon dioxide. The surfaces of the micromotors are
functionalized
with the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, which enables the motors to help
rapidly convert
carbon dioxide to calcium carbonate.
Image credit:
Laboratory for Nanobioelectronics, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
(September 23, 2015) Machines
that are much smaller than the width of a human hair could one day help clean
up carbon dioxide pollution in the oceans. Nanoengineers at the University of
California, San Diego have designed enzyme-functionalized micromotors that
rapidly zoom around in water, remove carbon dioxide and convert it into a
usable solid form.
The proof of concept study represents a promising route to
mitigate the buildup of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas in the
environment, said researchers. The team, led by distinguished nanoengineering
professor and chair Joseph Wang, published the work this month in the journal
Angewandte Chemie.
Video frames
showing the movement of a micromotor in sea water.
Image credit:
Laboratory for Nanobioelectronics, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
“We’re excited about the possibility of using these
micromotors to combat ocean acidification and global warming,” said Virendra V.
Singh, a postdoctoral scientist in Wang’s research group and a co-first author
of this study.
In their experiments, nanoengineers demonstrated that the
micromotors rapidly decarbonated water solutions that were saturated with
carbon dioxide. Within five minutes, the micromotors removed 90 percent of the
carbon dioxide from a solution of deionized water. The micromotors were just as
effective in a sea water solution and removed 88 percent of the carbon dioxide
in the same timeframe.
“In the future, we could potentially use these micromotors
as part of a water treatment system, like a water decarbonation plant,” said
Kevin Kaufmann, an undergraduate researcher in Wang’s lab and a co-author of
the study.