Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) are manufactured worldwide in large quantities for use in a wide range of applications.
In general, inanimate inorganic objects may just go with the flow and cannot actively move or respond to stress way living things can. However, German scientists have found in the lab a form of titanium dioxide particles that may be able to mimic the movement skills of some bacteria.
Titanium dioxide is an inorganic pigment that is white in colour. Today, we stated that this titanium dioxide is not ordinary titanium dioxide, but rather a one-of-a-kind titanium dioxide. This titanium dioxide particle is made up of two halves. On one side, a nickel and gold catalytically active coating is applied, while the other is kept untreated.
Photocatalysis occurs when certain titanium dioxide particles are exposed to light, causing the particles to move about. When these particles leave the light and return to their original positions, they will rotate on their own. Titanium dioxide particles are active in light, and their movement is stabilised by a mixture of physical and chemical processes.
Only microorganisms have this kind of behaviour in general, so how can this type of particle generate such sophisticated activity?
A well-known example of this is Brownian motion. Brownian motion appears disorganised to the average person, but it is the result of uneven heating of particles in a liquid causing objects to move. Under usual settings, the heat of the liquid in contact with the item is reasonably balanced, with only random deviations, resulting in random particulate matter movement as the ultimate performance.
This form of titanium dioxide particle is being introduced today. Due to structural challenges, the two parts have differing physical properties when lit. One is ordinary titanium dioxide, and the other is a catalytically active layer of nickel and gold. A property that makes it easier for a region of it to absorb light, raising the temperature in that area and forcing the particles to move in the opposite direction as if a driving force were generated.
These light-controlled particles can be used in a variety of ways. They can be used to power micro-robots on the one hand, and they may also be utilised to transport medications and enable precise targeted drug delivery on the other. This approach allows for immediate transmission of data.