Related papers: Colloidal Micromotors: Controlled Directed Motion
Molecular motors transport various cargos along cytoskeletal filaments, analogous to trucks on roads. In contrast to vehicles, however, molecular motors do not work alone but in small teams. We describe a simple model for the transport of a…
The controllability of passive microparticles that are advected with the fluid flow generated by an actively controlled one is studied. The particles are assumed to be suspended in a viscous fluid and well separated so that the far-field…
Simulations on self-propelling active cubes reveal interesting behaviors at both the individual and the collective level, emphasizing the importance of developing experimental analogs that allow to test these theoretical predictions. The…
Biological transport is supported by collective dynamics of enzymatic molecules that are called motor proteins or molecular motors. Experiments suggest that motor proteins interact locally via short-range potentials. We investigate the…
Study on a rectified current induced by active particles has received a great attention due to its possible application to a microscopic motor in biological environments. Insertion of an {\em asymmetric} passive object amid many active…
The directed self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) using external fields guides the formation of sophisticated hierarchical materials but becomes less effective with decreasing particle size. As an alternative, electron-beam-driven…
To develop active nanomaterials that can instantly respond to external stimuli with designed mechanical motions is an important step towards the realization of nanomachines and nanorobots. Herein, we present our finding of a versatile…
To develop active materials that can efficiently respond to external stimuli with designed mechanical motions is one of the major obstacles that have hindered the realization of nanomachines and nanorobots. Here, we propose an innovative…
Active colloids and externally actuated semi-flexible filaments provide basic building blocks for designing autonomously motile micro-machines. Here, we show that a passive semi-flexible filament can be actuated and transported by attaching…
DNA nanostructures are made using synthetic DNA strands, the sequences of which are designed such that they will self-assemble into the desired form by hybridization of complementary domains. Various structures and devices have been…
Efficient mixing of colloids, particles or molecules is a central issue in many processes. It results from the complex interplay between flow deformations and molecular diffusion, which is generally assumed to control the homogenization…
Surface-driven flows are ubiquitous in nature, from subcellular cytoplasmic streaming to organ-scale ciliary arrays. Here, we model how confined geometries can be used to engineer complex hydrodynamic patterns driven by activity prescribed…
We study the transport of paramagnetic colloidal particles on a patterned magnetic substrate with kinetic Monte Carlo and Brownian dynamics computer simulations. The planar substrate is decorated with point dipoles in either parallel or…
We demonstrate the control of vortical motion of neutral classical particles in driven superlattices. Our superlattice consists of a superposition of individual lattices whose potential depths are modulated periodically in time but with…
Chemotaxis is the response of a particle to a gradient in the chemical composition of the environment. While it was originally observed for biological organisms, it is of great interest in the context of synthetic active particles such as…
We investigate the dynamics of a charged particle confined to move on a toroidal helix while being driven by an external time-dependent electric field. The underlying phase space is analyzed for linearly and circularly polarized fields. For…
We introduce a new approach to build microscopic engines on the atomic scale that move translationally or rotationally and can perform useful functions such as pulling of a cargo. Characteristic of these engines is the possibility to…
Bubble-propelled catalytic colloids stand out as a uniquely efficient design for artificial controllable micromachines, but so far lack a general theoretical framework that explains the physics of their propulsion. Here we develop a…
Design of soft matter capable of controllable microscale dynamics is a frontier of modern science. Jiahao Chen et al. demonstrate that an electric field can drive particle-like solitons-skyrmions in a chiral nematic along a preprogrammed…
Controlling the flow of matter down to micrometer-scale confinement is of central importance in materials and environmental sciences, with direct applications in nano-microfluidics, drug delivery and biothechnology. Currents of…