Related papers: Colloidal Micromotors: Controlled Directed Motion
Self-propelling active matter relies on the conversion of energy from the undirected, nanoscopic scale to directed, macroscopic motion. One of the challenges in the design of synthetic active matter lies in the control of dynamic states, or…
Self-propelled particles and, in particular, those based on mesoporous silica, have raised considerable interest due to their potential applications in the environmental and biomedical fields thanks to their biocompatibility, tunable…
Topological protection allows robust transport of localized phenomena such as quantum information, solitons, and dislocations. The transport can be either dissipative or non-dissipative. Here, we experimentally demonstrate and theoretically…
A promising approach to transport cargo at the microscale lies within the use of self-propelled microorganisms, whose motion entrains that of passive particles. However, most applications remain limited to just a few passive particles of…
True microrobots, in contrast with externally controlled microparticles, must harvest or carry their own source of energy, as well as their own (preferably programmable) microcontroller of actuators for locomotion, using information…
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,…
Understanding multibody interactions between colloidal particles out of equilibrium has a profound impact on dynamical processes such as colloidal self assembly. However, traditional colloidal interactions are effectively quasi-static on…
Modulation of magnetic properties through voltage-driven ion motion and redox processes, i.e., magneto-ionics, is a unique approach to control magnetism with electric field for low-power memory and spintronic applications. So far,…
Quasiparticles in liquid crystals, such as torons and skyrmions, represent a new class of topologically protected solitonic excitations, offering a promising route toward soft microrobotics. Here we demonstrate that torons can be propelled…
We report an experimental study on the manipulation of colloidal particles in a drop sitting on a hydrogel. The manipulation is achieved by diffusiophoresis, which describes a directed motion of particles induced by solute gradients. By…
Micron-size self-propelling particles are often proposed as synthetic models for biological microswimmers, yet they lack internally regulated adaptation, which is central to the autonomy of their biological counterparts. Conversely,…
Micro motors that could run in liquid environment is very important for a variety of practices such as serving as pipeline robot, soft machine, drug delivery, or microfluidics system etc. However, fabrication of such tiny motors is…
We study propulsion arising from microscopic colloidal rotors dynamically assembled and driven in a viscous fluid upon application of an elliptically polarized rotating magnetic field. Close to a confining plate, the motion of this…
Synthetic nanomotors powered by chemical reactions have been designed to act as vehicles for active cargo transport, drug delivery as well as a variety of other uses. Collections of such motors, acting in consort, can self-assemble to form…
Contactless manipulation of small objects is essential for biomedical and chemical applications, such as cell analysis, assisted fertilisation, and precision chemistry. Established methods, including optical, acoustic, and magnetic…
Spontaneous directed motion, a hallmark of cell biology, is unusual in classical statistical physics. Here we study, using both numerical and analytical methods, organized motion in models of the cytoskeleton in which constituents are…
A simple model for the reaction-driven propulsion of a small device is proposed as a model for (part of) a molecular machine in aqueous media. Motion of the device is driven by an asymmetric distribution of reaction products. The propulsive…
Active systems contain self-propelled particles and can spontaneously self-organize into patterns making them attractive candidates for the self-assembly of smart soft materials. One key limitation of our present understanding of these…
We experimentally investigate the structural behavior of an interacting colloidal monolayer being driven across a decagonal quasiperiodic potential landscape created by an optical interference pattern. When the direction of the driving…
With an eye towards next-generation, smart, micro/nanofluidic devices, capable of responding to external stimuli or changes in environment, we demonstrate a means to achieve dynamic control of the spatio-temporal properties of the electric…