A 15 mm long robot fish was made from an unusual material. It is powered by laser light.

Microplastics are found almost everywhere on Earth. If animals ingest it, it may harm them.

The problem is that such tiny particlesare difficult to remove from the environment, especially when they settle in nooks and crannies at the bottom of bodies of water. Now, researchers from the American Chemical Society have created a light-activated robotic fish that quickly “swims” to collect and remove microplastics from the environment.

Inspired by mother of pearl, scientists have created a durableand flexible material with a gradient structure for soft robots. The researchers linked β-cyclodextrin molecules to sulfonated graphene, creating composite nanosheets. Solutions of the nanosheets at varying concentrations were then injected into mixtures of polyurethane latexes.

Using the layer-by-layer assembly method, scientists createdtiny robot fish 15 mm long. Quickly turning the near-infrared laser on the fish's tail on and off causes it to flap its fins, propelling the robot forward. As a result, it easily moves 2.67 body lengths per second. This is much faster than other soft floating robots. Active phytoplankton moves at the same speed.

Scientists have shown that a swimming robot fish can easilyabsorbs microplastics from polystyrene and transports them to another location. The material can also recover after being cut while maintaining its ability to adsorb microplastics.

The researchers say that because of the robot fish's durability and speed, it could be used to monitor microplastics and other pollutants in harsh aquatic environments.

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