Rapid Fabrication of Bimetallic Spherical Motors

Catalytic bimetallic nanomotors can swim at 100 body lengths per second as well as pick up, haul, and release micrometer-scale cargo. The electrokinetic locomotion of bimetallic nanomotors is driven by the electrocatalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. The motors are typically fabricated by electrodeposition-based template synthesis techniques that result in heterogeneous samples and require specialized knowledge of electrochemistry, a three-electrode potentiostat setup, cyanide-based chemistry, and porous membranes. This paper presents a rapid and facile method for fabrication of spherical bimetallic motors that only requires access to metal deposition equipment and commercially available microspheres. The resulting spherical motors swim at speeds comparable to rod-shaped motors with the same dimensions and composition. The spherical motors' velocity increases with fuel concentration and decreasing diameter.