SCbots: Stomatocyte-like colloidosomes as versatile microrobots fabricated by one-step self-assembly

Building microrobots with asymmetric shapes is crucial to generate net driving forces, whereas often suffer from complex fabrication processes and limited availability of materials. Additionally, integrating diverse components into a single microscopic device for multifunctional microrobots is more challenging; however, if achieved, it offers promise for advanced microrobots with significantly expanded capabilities. Our group pioneered the fabrication of stomatocyte-like colloidosomes (SCs) as motherships, on which different functional components could be conveniently loaded to construct versatile microrobots (SCbots) via one-step self-assembly. It is the first time for self-assembly of enzyme powered microrobots via colloidosomes, the mechanism governing the formation of the target SCbots possessing asymmetrical narrow-opening stomatocyte shape is demonstrated. An additional benefit of SCbots is that their speed can be easily adjusted by changing the size of the shell-forming particles have been shown. As a proof of concept, like self-assembling macroscopic LEGO bricks, the proposed bottom-up strategy is used to access distinct versatile SCbots, including magnetically guided micro-carriers constructed from Fe3O4 nanoparticles and a "chemistry-on-the-fly" platform for CO2 sequestration constructed from carbonic anhydrase (CA). We report a flexible and universal route to create versatile SCbots with adjustable speeds and navigation capacities, which are in high demand for microrobots in various real applications.