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Scientists have developed a new kind of tiny motor â€� which they term a “microrocketâ€� â€� that can propel itself through acidic environments, such as the human stomach, without any external energy source, opening the way to a variety of medical and industrial applications. Their report in the Journal of the American Chemical Öйú365betÖÐÎĹÙÍø describes the microrockets traveling at virtual warp speed for such devices. A human moving at the same speed would have to run at a clip of 400 miles per hour.

Joseph Wang and colleagues explain that self-propelled nano- or microscale motors could have applications in targeted drug delivery or imaging in humans or as a way to monitor industrial applications, such as semiconductor processing. However, some versions of these small-scale motors are not self-propelled and require the addition of a fuel (commonly hydrogen peroxide). Other versions cannot withstand extreme environments such as the stomach, which is very acidic. That’s why the researchers developed a new, tubular microrocket that can move itself without added fuels in very acidic conditions.

They tested the new microrocket in various acids and in acidified human blood serum. In such environments, a microrocket spontaneously produces bubbles of hydrogen gas, which propels it like the gases spewing out of a rocket’s motor nozzle. The microrocket is ultrafast � it can move farther than 100 times its 0.0004-inch length in just one second. In contrast to current devices of this kind, the microrocket’s interior is lined with zinc, which is more biocompatible and “greener� than other materials and leads to the generation of the hydrogen bubbles. Wang’s team also developed a version with a magnetic layer, which enabled them to guide the microrockets toward cargo for pick-up, transport and release.

The researchers acknowledge funding from the and the .

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