Water Fueled Micromotors Would Carry Drugs Inside Human Body

Micro rockets which could deliver drugs in human body are under research from a long time but could not be successfully designed due to toxic substances (such as hydrogen peroxide) used to fuel them, limiting their application within human body. The problem is now solved by a team of researchers from University of California, San Diego who have designed a micromotor that uses reaction between water and aluminium as a source of fuel. The micromotor is asymmetric with a diameter of 20 µm and is made of aluminium-gallium alloy, where gallium is responsible for preventing an aluminium hydroxide layer deposition on the motor (which would stop any further reaction between water and aluminium). One side of the aluminium-gallium alloy is coated with titanium, making it inert; while the other side is left as it is to allow the reaction of watery medium with aluminium, forming particles of hydrogen gas bubbles which propel the micromotor.

#-Link-Snipped-#The motor can travel at a speed of 3mm in water, and the speed decreases in denser medium. The development is not completely ready to be used within human body, as the reaction goes off in around 1 minute (in water) and is not sufficient to reach desired targets in the body. Also, during the fuel reaction, aluminium and gallium would be released which might damage the cells. Researchers are thus looking for a better combination of alloys to be used as fuel.

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