Near-infrared light-driven yolk@shell carbon@silica nanomotors for fuel-free triglyceride degradation

Yolk@shell mesoporous nanoparticles have received close attention due to their controllable structures and integrated functions. However, most yolk@shell nanosystems lack self-propulsion. Herein, yolk@spiky-shell structured carbon@silica nanomotors are fabricated with near-infrared (NIR) light self-thermophoretic propulsion as lipase nanocarriers for fuel-free triglyceride degradation. The light propulsion accelerates the accumulation of nanomotors on the droplet interface, and the efficient lipase loading further facilitates the rapid degradation of tributyrin droplets. By adjusting the yolk and spiky structure, the obtained semi-yolk@spiky-shell structured nanomotors exhibit the highest capacity of lipase (442 mg/g) and the highest light-driven diffusion coefficient (ca. 55% increase under 2 W/cm² irradiation), thus improving the degradation efficiency of triglyceride (93.1% under NIR light vs. 66.7% without NIR light within 20 min). This work paves the way to rationally design yolk@shell structured nanomotors for diverse applications.