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🎁 中英文稿：
Water laced with heavy metals—like the drinking water in Flint, Michigan—can be stripped of contaminants using chemicals, filters, membranes, even electric current. But now researchers say they've created what could be a cheaper, more effective solution: a fleet of microscopic, self-propelled, aquatic robots. Each one the size of just 10 lined-up bacteria—so tiny that a billion will fit in a syringe.
水中含有的重金屬——如美國密西根州弗林特市的飲用水——可以利用化學製品、過濾裝置、薄膜、甚至是電流來去除。但是現在研究人員稱他們已經研發出了一個價錢更低廉、更加有效的辦法——一支微觀的、自行驅動的、水中機器人。每個機器人的大小約為10排細菌大小——其體積如此之小，以至於一個注射器內可以容納10億個這樣的機器人。
Each tube-shaped microbot is a sandwich of three materials. A graphene outer layer, which binds to heavy metals. A middle layer of nickel, which gives the bots magnetic polarity, so they can be pulled through wastewater with magnets. And platinum inside—for propulsion. Just add a bit of peroxide to the wastewater, and it'll react with the platinum to form water and oxygen bubbles, which propel the tubes along.
每一個管狀的機器人是由三種材料構成。一個石墨烯外層，可以吸附重金屬。中間是鎳層，為機器人提供磁極性，這樣機器人在磁鐵的引力作用下可以從廢水中脫離。最裡層的是鉑金，具有推動作用。只需要在廢水中添加一點過氧化氫，它會與鉑金反應形成水和氧氣泡沫,推動機器人前進。
In an hour, a swarm of 200,000 bots scavenged 80 percent of the lead from three millimeters of tainted water. And the researchers estimate that it costs only about five cents a liter to do so. The findings are in the journal Nano Letters.
僅僅在一小時內，20萬個機器人淨化了80%的3毫米的鉛污染的水。研究人員估計這花費的成本僅有5美分。該研究結果發表在《納米快報》雜誌上。
The researchers envision the bots as a portable solution for small companies—they’d treat their water onsite instead of carting it to a treatment plant. And after the robots do the rounds, the heavy metals can be stripped away. Meaning companies can reuse the heavy metals, and, ultimately, keep them out of our waterways.
研究人員將這些機器人設想為小型的公司——這樣就可以現場對污水進行淨化處理，而不需要運送污水。機器人在淨化處理污水後，重金屬就從水裡去除了。這意味著公司可以對重金屬進行再利用，直到最後，將重金屬從我們的水道中完全去除。
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