Related papers: Active Particles as Mobile Microelectrodes for Sel…
The ability to induce regions of high and low ionic concentration adjacent to a permeselective membrane or nanochannel subject to an externally applied electric field (a phenomenon termed concentration-polarization) has been used for a…
Since a long time the application of small electric potentials on biological membranes (iontophoresis) proved enabling control and improvement of transdermal delivery of substances across this barrier. In spite of a large experimental data,…
Dense active matter, from bacterial suspensions and microtubule bundles driven by motor proteins to cellular monolayers and synthetic Janus particles, is characterised by mesoscale turbulence, the emergence of chaotic flow structures. By…
We provide an experimental proof-of-concept for a robust, continuously rotating microstructure - consisting of two metallodielectric (gold-polystyrene)Janus particles rigidly attached to each other - which is driven in uniform ac fields by…
Active matter classifies systems consisting of self-propelled units which convert the energy stored locally or extracted from their environment into directed motion. It has recently attracted considerable attention due to rich new physics…
Short nanopores have various applications in biosensing, desalination, and energy conversion. Here, the modulation of charged exterior surfaces on ionic transport is investigated through simulations with sub-200 nm long nanopores under…
Catalytic Janus swimmers demonstrate a diffusio-phoretic motion by self-generating the gradients of concentrations and electric potential. Recent work has focused on simplified cases, such as a release of solely one type of ions or low…
Dielectrophoresis (DEP), the motion of polarizable particles in non-uniform electric fields, has become an important tool for the transport, separation, and characterization of microparticles in biomedical and nanoelectronics research. In…
We study electrophoretic mobility of metal-dielectric Janus particles with dipolar director profile in two nematic liquid crystals (LCs) having same (positive) conductivity anisotropy and opposite dielectric anisotropy. The applied ac…
An active colloid is a suspension of particles that transduce free energy from their environment and use the energy to engage in intrinsically non-equilibrium activities such as growth, replication and self-propelled motility. An obvious…
A locally heated Janus colloid can achieve motion in a fluid through the coupling of dissolved ions and the medium's polarizibility to an imposed temperature gradient, an effect known as self-thermo(di)electrophoresis. We numerically study…
How systems are endowed with migration capacity is a fascinating question with implications ranging from the design of novel active systems to the control of microbial populations. Bacteria, which can be found in a variety of environments,…
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…
The dynamics of self-propelled colloidal particles are strongly influenced by their environment through hydrodynamic and, in many cases, chemical interactions. We develop a theoretical framework to describe the motion of confined active…
We tested the enhancement of electrical current generated from photosynthetically active bacteria by use of electrodes with porosity on the nano- and micrometer length-scale. For two cyanobacteria on structured indium-tin-oxide electrodes,…
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…
Active Janus particles suspended in a plasma were studied experimentally. The Janus particles were micron-size plastic microspheres, one half of which was coated with a thin layer of platinum. They were suspended in the plasma sheath of a…
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…
Janus particles self-propel by generating local tangential concentration gradients along their surface. These gradients are present in a thin layer whose thickness is small compared to the particle size. Chemical asymmetry along the surface…
Electroosmosis is a fascinating effect where liquid motion is induced by an applied electric field. Counter ions accumulate in the vicinity of charged surfaces, triggering a coupling between liquid mass transport and external electric…