Recent progress in actuation technologies of micro/nanorobots

• Ke Xu and
• Bing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 756–765, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.59

• min, which is currently difficult to achieve with other traditional methods. This research is an innovation in the field of dental surgery. Due to the autonomous motion and the tiny size of the microrobots, it is reasonable to believe that it will also have a significant impact in other medical fields

Janus-micromotor-based on–off luminescence sensor for active TNT detection

• Ye Yuan,
• Changyong Gao,
• Daolin Wang,
• Chang Zhou,
• Baohua Zhu and
• Qiang He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1324–1331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.131

• of detection as low as 2.4 ng mL−1 TNT within 1 minute. Such bubble-propelled Janus UCNP capsule motors have great potential for contaminated water analysis. Keywords: autonomous motion; bubble propulsion; Janus micromotors; layer-by-layer assembly; TNT detection; upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs

• the Janus UCNP capsule motors were successfully prepared. The autonomous motion of the Janus UCNP capsule motors was recorded by using microscopy. To better explore the movement behaviour of the Janus UCNP capsule motors, the corresponding motion trajectories, speed, and oxygen bubble frequency were

• . Benefiting from the enhanced autonomous motion, the LOD of the Janus UCNP capsule motors (2.4 ng mL−1) is 3.5 times better than that of static UCNPs within shorter analysis time. Such a micromotor could be used as a multifunctional platform integrating autonomous motion and TNT detection for efficient and