Related papers: Colloidal Micromotors: Controlled Directed Motion
We investigate the transport of superparamagnetic colloidal particles along self-assembled tracks using a periodically applied magnetic field as a model for ratchet-like mechanisms. Through video microscopy and simulations, we examine how…
Colloidal particles can create reconfigurable nanomaterials, with applications such as color-changing, self-repairing, and self-regulating materials and reconfigurable drug delivery systems. However, top-down methods for manipulating…
Colloids self-assemble into various organized superstructures determined by particle interactions. There is a tremendous progress in both the scientific understanding and applications of self-assemblies of single-type identical particles.…
Topological protection ensures stability of information and particle transport against perturbations. We explore experimentally and computationally the topologically protected transport of magnetic colloids above spatially inhomogeneous…
The fabrication of synthetic self-propelled particles and the experimental investigations of their dynamics have stimulated interest in self-generated phoretic effects that propel nano- and micron-scale objects. Theoretical modeling of…
Micromotors pushed by biological entities, like motile bacteria, constitute a fascinating way to convert chemical energy into mechanical work at the micrometer scale. Here we show, by using numerical simulations, that a properly designed…
Many types of molecular motors have been proposed and synthesized in recent years, displaying different kinds of motion, and fueled by different driving forces such as light, heat, or chemical reactions. We propose a new type of molecular…
Controlling the motion of nano and microscale objects in a fluid environment is a key factor in designing optimized tiny machines that perform mechanical tasks such as transport of drugs or genetic material in cells, fluid mixing to…
Colloidal inclusions in lab-on-a-chip devices can be used to perform analytic operations in a non-invasive fashion. We demonstrate here a novel approach to realize fast and reversible micro-sieving operations by manipulating and…
Self-propelled chemically powered synthetic micron and nano-scale motors are being intensively studied because of the wide range of potential applications that exploit their directed motion. This paper considers even smaller…
Chemically powered self-propelled colloids generate a motor force by converting locally a source of energy into directed motion, a process that has been explored both in experiments and in computational models. The use of active colloids as…
The miniaturization of machines towards the micron and nanoscales requires the development of joint-like elements that enable and constrain motion. We present a facile method to create colloidal joints, that is, anisotropic colloidal…
Miniaturized, self-propelled locomotors use chemo-mechanical transduction mechanisms to convert fuel in the environment to autonomous motion. Recent experimental and theoretical studies demonstrate that these autonomous engines can…
We report a closed-loop control system for paramagnetic catalytically self-propelled Janus microrobots. We achieve this control by employing electromagnetic coils that direct the magnetic field in a desired orientation to steer the…
We demonstrate several examples of driving and steering of colloids when dispersed in nematic liquid crystals. The driving mechanism is based on the principle of nonlinear electrophoresis which is mediated by the asymmetry in the structure…
Endowing materials with physical intelligence holds the key for a progress leap in robotic systems. In spite of the growing success for macroscopic devices, transferring these concepts to the microscale presents several challenges connected…
Detailed control over the motion of colloidal particles is relevant in many applications in colloidal science such as lab-on-a-chip devices. Here, we use an external magnetic field to assemble paramagnetic colloidal spheres into colloidal…
Biological functions in each animal cell depend on coordinated operations of a wide variety of molecular motors. Some of the these motors transport cargo to their respective destinations whereas some others are mobile workshops which…
Collective control of mobile microrobotic swarms is indispensable for their potential high-impact applications in targeted drug delivery, medical diagnostics, parallel micromanipulation, and environmental sensing and remediation. Lack of…
Superparamagnetic colloidal particles can be reversibly assembled into wheel-like structures called microwheels ($\mu$wheels) which roll on surfaces due to friction and can be driven at user-controlled speeds and directions using rotating…