Scientists Show Bionic Robo-Fish to Remove Microplastics from Waterbodies

Scientists have created a small robot-fish that swims around and absorbs Microplastics on its flexible, self-healing body in order to eliminate them from seas and oceans. Microplastics are the countless quantities of extremely little pieces of plastic that break off of larger items made of plastic that are used on a daily basis, such as water bottles, vehicle tyres, and synthetic T-shirts.

Plastics are one of the biggest environmental issues of the twenty-first century because, once they are released into the environment through the decomposition of larger plastics, they are very difficult to eliminate. They end up in drinking water, produce, and food, harming both the environment and the health of humans and animals.

Yuyan Wang, a researcher at the Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University and one of the study’s primary authors, stated, “It is of tremendous relevance to create a robot to precisely collect and analyze harmful Microplastics contaminants from the aquatic environment.” In a study published in the journal Nano Letters, her team’s innovative creation is presented. This is the first instance of such soft robots that we are aware of.

Designing a small self-propelled robo-fish that can swim around, grab on to free-floating Microplastics, and heal itself if it is cut or broken while on its expedition, researchers at Sichuan University have unveiled a novel way to find these pollutants when it comes to water pollution. The robo-fish, which is only 13 mm long, can move about and swim at approximately 30 mm per second owing to a light laser system in its tail, which is about the same pace as plankton in moving water.