Bioinspired Pt-free molecularly imprinted hydrogel-based magnetic Janus micromotors for temperature-responsive recognition and adsorption of erythromycin in water

Micro/nanomotors that could convert chemical energy into autonomous motion to perform various tasks are the most active research areas in chemical engineering. Up to now, the majority of micromotors require complex procedures and expensive Pt as catalyst for propulsion, which hinder seriously their practical application. Herein, we demonstrate a facile biotemplate route to synthesize a novel Pt-free temperature-responsive micromachine with fascinating recognition, capture and release capacities for erythromycin in water based on the integration of surface imprinted technology, the temperature-response of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) hydrogels, and the autonomous motion ability of micromotor. The resulting Janus micromotor not only exhibited high temperature-controlled recognition and adsorption capacities than most reported erythromycin-imprinted materials, but also revealed high trajectory control ability and easy recovery by an external magnetic field, showing great potential for biomedical and water purification applications.