Related papers: Colloidal Micromotors: Controlled Directed Motion
The motion of an artificial micro-scale swimmer that uses a chemical reaction catalyzed on its own surface to achieve autonomous propulsion is fully characterized experimentally. It is shown that at short times, it has a substantial…
Microorganisms are able to overcome the thermal randomness of their surroundings by harvesting energy to navigate in viscous fluid environments. In a similar manner, synthetic colloidal microswimmers are capable of mimicking complex…
Self-powered motion in catalytic colloidal particles provides a compelling example of active matter, i.e. systems that engage in single-particle and collective behavior far from equilibrium. The long-time, long-distance behavior of such…
Biological motors are marvels of nature that inspire creation of their synthetic counterparts with comparable nanoscale dimensions, high efficiency and diverse functions. Molecular motors have been synthesized, but obtaining nanomotors…
Machines enabled the Industrial Revolution and are central to modern technological progress: A machine's parts transmit forces, motion, and energy to one another in a predetermined manner. Today's engineering frontier, building artificial…
In this Account, we describe how synthetic motors that operate by self-diffusiophoresis make use of a self-generated concentration gradient to drive motor motion. A description of propulsion by self-diffusiophoresis is presented for Janus…
Designing microscopic and nanoscopic self-propelled particles and characterising their motion has become a major scientific challenge over the past decades. To this purpose, phoretic effects, namely propulsion mechanisms relying on local…
Molecular motors are essential to the living, they generate additional fluctuations that boost transport and assist assembly. Self-propelled colloids, that consume energy to move, hold similar potential for the man-made assembly of…
The dynamics of a spherical chemically-powered synthetic colloidal motor that operates by a self-diffusiophoretic mechanism and has a catalytic domain of arbitrary shape is studied using both continuum theory and particle-based simulations.…
Different phoretic driving mechanisms have been proposed for the transport of solid or liquid microscopic inclusions in integrated chemical processes. However, the ability to reversibly address both the flow path, rate, and local reactant…
Living systems routinely consume energy to achieve motility, often using intricate biomolecular machinery. In this work, we show that active droplets can sustain indefinite self-propulsion of a spherical colloid in an otherwise homogeneous,…
Light-activated self-propelled colloids are synthesized and their active motion is studied using optical microscopy. We propose a versatile route using different photoactive materials, and demonstrate a multiwavelength activation and…
Cooperative collective dynamics is a principal determinant of the ability of synthetic micromotors to perform specific functions. However, realizing controllable and predictable collective behavior in complex physiological environments…
Several designs for micro-devices for chemotaxis based on nano-motors are proposed. The nano- or micro-motors are the conventional Janus rods or spheres that are powered by the catalytic reaction of fuels such as hydrogen peroxide. It is…
Micromotor and nanomotor particles are typically made using dense solid particles that can sediment or be trapped in confined flow environments. Creation of much larger motors should be possible if a very low-density system is used with…
The transport of motile entities across modulated energy landscapes plays an important role in a range of phenomena in biology, colloidal science and solid-state physics. Here, an easily implementable strategy that allows for the collective…
The generation of unidirectional motion has been a long-standing challenge in engineering of molecular motors and, more generally, machines. A molecular motor is characterized by a set of low energy states that differ in their…
Topological growth control allows to produce a narrow distribution of outgrown colloidal rods with defined and adjustable length. We use an external magnetic field to assemble paramagnetic colloidal spheres into colloidal rods of a chosen…
Single and double paramagnetic colloidal particles are placed above a magnetic square pattern and are driven with an external magnetic field precessing around a high symmetry direction of the pattern. The external magnetic field and that of…
Synthetic active colloidal systems are being studied extensively because of the diverse and often unusual phenomena these nonequilibrium systems manifest, and their potential applications in fields ranging from biology to material science.…