ENV-ROBO-PHOTOCAT · Light Responsive Functionalized Carbon Dots-Hydrogel based microrobot for simultaneous plastic waste upcycling and H2O2 generation

This project mainly focuses on environmental remediation using microrobots via photocatalysis. Plastic pollution is a growing global concern nowadays that raises significant health risks. In this regard, the upcycling or degradation of plastic waste is a sustainable approach for environmental remediation. This project aims at the development of a multifunctional, light-driven microrobotic system based on biocompatible, stimuli-responsive hydrogels with functionalized carbon dots (CDs), for sustainable plastic waste valorization. The hydrogel is expected to offer porosity, hydrophilicity, and mechanical flexibility, enhancing adsorption, diffusion, and adaptability, while the CDs, engineered through heteroatom doping, surface functionalization, and structural modification, will provide tunable optical properties and redox sites, enabling efficient photocatalysis. That will target the efficient conversion of the plastics (microplastics) into valuable small hydrocarbons and carbon-rich nanomaterials for sustainable reuse. A core innovation lies in the modification of the CDs to precisely control the exciton dynamics properties within the CD-hydrogel composite. The in-depth understanding of the active charge carrier generation, separation, and accumulation at the active sites will be done using advanced ultrafast spectroscopic studies. These studies will uncover structure-property relationships, guiding the rational design of next-generation photocatalysts. Building on the fundamental understanding, upon light irradiation, the photogenerated electrons in the CB of the photocatalyst will reduce environmental oxygen to form ROS, promoting in situ H2O2 production in aqueous medium. Simultaneously, holes in the VB may generate hydroxyl radicals (•OH), to oxidatively cleave the polymer chains of plastics. This dual-function photocatalytic system enables a self-sustained, integrated solution for environmental remediation and circular plastic economy.