Programmable Construction of Asymmetric Polymeric Semiconductor Nanorobots for Active Antibacterial and Synergistic Therapy

Light-driven micro/nanorobots require semiconductor materials with efficient light harvesting and well-defined structural asymmetry to achieve high-performance propulsion. However, most reported systems rely on inorganic semiconductors with rigid band structures and limited stability, while polymeric semiconductors have been restricted by the lack of controllable asymmetric architectures. Here, we report a kinetically programmed one-pot strategy for constructing asymmetric polymeric semiconductor nanorobots with tunable island architectures. By regulating interfacial free energy and competitive nucleation kinetics, mesoporous aminophenol-formaldehyde resin/silica Janus nanoparticles with single-, dual-, and multi-island configurations are precisely synthesized. The resulting asymmetric nanostructures support synergistic light- and fuel-driven self-diffusiophoretic propulsion, allowing programmable motion behaviors. Benefiting from the autonomous motion and photocatalytic activity, the polymeric semiconductor nanorobots exhibit enhanced interaction with bacteria, deep biofilm penetration, and efficient diffusion of reactive oxygen species. This work establishes a general strategy for asymmetric polymeric semiconductor construction and highlights its potential in active antimicrobial and wound-healing nanomedicine.

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Publication Details

Journal
ACS Nano
Published
2026-04-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6c02416
Primary Topic
Micro and Nano Robotics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Programmable Construction of Asymmetric Polymeric Semiconductor Nanorobots for Active Antibacterial and Synergistic Therapy

Zhenning Sun, Qingdong Chai, Yang Lü, Ziqi Zheng et al.
ACS Nano
Micro and Nano Robotics
article

Programmable Construction of Asymmetric Polymeric Semiconductor Nanorobots for Active Antibacterial and Synergistic Therapy

Zhenning Sun, Qingdong Chai, Yang Lü, Ziqi Zheng, Yanjun He, J. B. Liu, Qirui Liang, DQ Zhu, Huannuo Tao, Guoxing Zhang, Jie Zeng, Ziyi Zhou, Tianyi Liu
article en

Abstract

Light-driven micro/nanorobots require semiconductor materials with efficient light harvesting and well-defined structural asymmetry to achieve high-performance propulsion. However, most reported systems rely on inorganic semiconductors with rigid band structures and limited stability, while polymeric semiconductors have been restricted by the lack of controllable asymmetric architectures. Here, we report a kinetically programmed one-pot strategy for constructing asymmetric polymeric semiconductor nanorobots with tunable island architectures. By regulating interfacial free energy and competitive nucleation kinetics, mesoporous aminophenol-formaldehyde resin/silica Janus nanoparticles with single-, dual-, and multi-island configurations are precisely synthesized. The resulting asymmetric nanostructures support synergistic light- and fuel-driven self-diffusiophoretic propulsion, allowing programmable motion behaviors. Benefiting from the autonomous motion and photocatalytic activity, the polymeric semiconductor nanorobots exhibit enhanced interaction with bacteria, deep biofilm penetration, and efficient diffusion of reactive oxygen species. This work establishes a general strategy for asymmetric polymeric semiconductor construction and highlights its potential in active antimicrobial and wound-healing nanomedicine.

ACS NanoVol. 20(16)
Tongji University (CN), Army Medical University (CN), Harbin Engineering University (CN), Fudan University (CN), Inner Mongolia University (CN), UNSW Sydney (AU), Plastic Surgery Hospital (CN), Quzhou University (CN), State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (CN), Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (CN), Qingdao Center of Resource Chemistry and New Materials (CN), Beijing Advanced Sciences and Innovation Center (CN), Army Medical College (PK)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Micro and Nano Robotics
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