---
title: "Magnetic microrobots pull microplastics out of soil"
locale: "en"
url: "https://irz.fr/en/articles/mxene-microplastics-en"
markdown_url: "https://irz.fr/en/articles/mxene-microplastics-en.md"
category: "tech"
tags: ["materials", "environment", "research", "microplastics"]
published_at: "2026-08-14T08:32:00.000Z"
author: "Inès Vidal"
translation: "https://irz.fr/fr/articles/mxene-microplastics-fr.md"
---

# Magnetic microrobots pull microplastics out of soil

MXene flakes made magnetic travel through soil to capture microplastics, then are recovered with a magnet. Shown in the lab, not yet in the field.

In water, filtering microplastics is hard but conceivable. In soil it is a different problem: the particles lodge between grains, out of reach of any simple filter. Digging up all the earth to process it is not a realistic option.

A team led by Jeonghyo Kim proposes a different route: Ti3C2Tx MXene microparticles, designed to attract the targeted microplastics, combined with ferromagnetic nickel nanoparticles.[1](https://hackaday.com/2026/08/13/removing-microplastics-from-soil-with-tumbling-magnetic-flakes/) The result moves through soil under an external magnetic field, like microrobots, and is then recovered with a strong magnet.

In the lab, the researchers report removing about 81% of polystyrene and 72% of PET particles from soil, with higher rates in water.[1](https://hackaday.com/2026/08/13/removing-microplastics-from-soil-with-tumbling-magnetic-flakes/) The paper appears in NPG Asia Materials.[2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41427-026-00670-7)

The interesting part is not the percentage; it is the gesture. Instead of hauling earth to a treatment plant, you send an agent into the soil and call it back. Remediation becomes an operation steered from outside rather than an excavation.

What remains unknown carries real weight: behaviour under real conditions, with the variety of soil types, moisture and organic matter.[1](https://hackaday.com/2026/08/13/removing-microplastics-from-soil-with-tumbling-magnetic-flakes/) A lab result says nothing yet about a farm field. For now it is an open door, not a machine ready to ship.

## References

1. [Hackaday, Removing Microplastics From Soil With Tumbling Magnetic Flakes](https://hackaday.com/2026/08/13/removing-microplastics-from-soil-with-tumbling-magnetic-flakes/)
2. [Kim, Mallick, Song & Pumera, Magnetic MXene-based microrobots for soil microplastics removal, NPG Asia Materials (2026)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41427-026-00670-7)