Microscopic self-propelled swimmers capable of autonomous navigation through complex environments provide appealing opportunities for localization, pick-up and delivery of micro-and nanoscopic objects. Inspired by motile cells and bacteria, man-made microswimmers have been fabricated, and their motion in patterned surroundings has been experimentally studied. We propose to use self-driven artificial microswimmers for separation of binary mixtures of colloids. We revealed different regimes of separation including one with a velocity inversion. Our finding could be of use for various biological and medical applications.
@article{arxiv.1109.5099,
title = {Using self-driven microswimmers for particle separation},
author = {W. Yang and V. R. Misko and K. Nelissen and M. Kong and F. M. Peeters},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1109.5099},
year = {2012}
}