Micro/Nanomotors: Design, Materials, Propulsion and Applications

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "A:Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 July 2026 | Viewed by 1210

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: functional composite materials; metamaterials; micro-/nanorobots; photonic crystals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, International School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: nanomaterials; micro/nanorobots; drug delivery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the rapidly evolving field of micro/nanomotors, which are miniaturized devices capable of autonomous motion and task execution at the micro- and nanoscale. These innovative systems, driven by chemical, biological, or external energy sources, hold transformative potential across diverse domains, including biomedical engineering, environmental remediation, and industrial automation. This Special Issue invites contributions exploring novel design principles, advanced materials (e.g., biocompatible polymers, stimuli-responsive composites), scalable fabrication techniques (e.g., 3D printing, self-assembly), and cutting-edge applications (e.g., targeted drug delivery, pollutant degradation, biosensing). We also welcome the submission of studies addressing challenges in motion control, energy efficiency, and real-world integration. By bridging fundamental research and practical innovation, this Special Issue aims to advance the development of next-generation micro/nanomotor technologies and elucidate their impact on science and society. Submissions from interdisciplinary fields are highly encouraged.

Prof. Dr. Jianguo Guan
Dr. Ming Luo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • micro/nanomotor
  • fabrication
  • motion control
  • application

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 4389 KB  
Article
Gallium Liquid Metal Microdroplets for Constructing Active Therapeutic Agents in Photothermal Therapy of Ulcerative Colitis
by Zesheng Li, Yuzhu Di, Lubo Jin, Bo Qu and Hongyue Zhang
Micromachines 2025, 16(12), 1420; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16121420 - 18 Dec 2025
Viewed by 829
Abstract
Gallium-based liquid metals have been extensively studied in the field of biomedical engineering, including applications in tumor and inflammatory disease therapy, as well as targeted drug delivery. Among these, leveraging the photothermal effect of gallium liquid metals enables effective treatment of heat-sensitive cells [...] Read more.
Gallium-based liquid metals have been extensively studied in the field of biomedical engineering, including applications in tumor and inflammatory disease therapy, as well as targeted drug delivery. Among these, leveraging the photothermal effect of gallium liquid metals enables effective treatment of heat-sensitive cells in tumor regions and enhances the diffusion capability of liquid metal microdroplets. However, research on the active treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC) using photothermal therapy with liquid metals remains unexplored. This study focuses on constructing an active composite colloidal motor based on gallium indium liquid metal alloy, using liquid metal microdroplets as the core. Through layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytes, a liquid metal active droplet loaded with the drug mesalazine (5-aminosalicylic acid), named as LMAD-A was developed. Under asymmetric light fields generated by NIR-II light source irradiation, LMAD-A exhibits autonomous locomotion, achieving an effective diffusion coefficient more than 800 times greater than that of Brownian motion in liquid metal microdroplets of similar size. Furthermore, LMAD-A demonstrates phototactic behavior, moving toward the NIR light source autonomously. Through in vitro and in vivo experiments in mice, it was verified that LMAD-A can aggregate, deform, and fuse in the mouse colon under photothermal effects, leading to enhanced release of the loaded drug. In simulated treatments, LMAD-A significantly alleviated DSS-induced colitis in mice, confirming the targeted therapeutic capability of active liquid metal microdroplets as an active therapeutic agent in UC-affected regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nanomotors: Design, Materials, Propulsion and Applications)
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