ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Nanorobots could be used to clean up microscopic environments by collecting bacteria and depositing them at defined locations.

This would enable humans to have direct interaction with the microscopic world for the first time, offering the possibility of applications in microbiology, biomedical research and targeted manipulation at the microscale.

Around 50 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, the robots enable the controlled manipulation of objects far too small for human hands. This allows them to "clean" microscopic environments under controlled laboratory conditions by collecting bacteria and depositing them elsewhere.

Researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg in Germany claim the robots are sufficiently agile to enable them to perform extremely rapid 90 degree turns. This allows them to systematically and efficiently scan large areas. They can then selectively capture, transport and release significant numbers of bacteria to a new location.

A key challenge for the researchers was how to power and steer such extremely small machines. They solved this problem by using the recoil of individual photons to move the micrometre-sized devices.

"In essence, we have built a light-driven nanorobot that can track down and collect bacteria," says Jin Qin, lead experimental scientist of the study.

"By simplifying the design, we reached a size at which these robots can operate directly in the microbial world - almost like microscopic cleaning devices."

Handling objects such as single cells or bacteria in a controlled and targeted way has been a major challenge in the past. The nanorobots demonstrate that the controlled manipulation, collection and relocation of bacteria is now achievable.