Visible light driven catalytic gold decorated soft-oxometalate (SOM) based nanomotors for organic pollutant remediation

Abstract

Visible light propelled nanomotors are a class of highly sought after active matter. Here we report a gold decorated semiconductor and a soft-oxometalate based TiO₂-{Mo₇}-Au nanomotor which can be propelled diffusiophoretically on exposure to visible light and show excellent photocatalytic activity. These systems exclude the use of any harsh toxic chemical as fuel and exhibit a speed of 10 μm s⁻¹ in water. Their motion can also be controlled by rapid switching of light. We use these photocatalytic nanomotors for environmental cleansing as they can facilitate the removal of organic pollutants from water under visible light. In this work we have demonstrated the removal of two model organic pollutants methylene blue and benzyl bromide from water using these nanomotors.