Related papers: Light-Activated Self-thermophoretic Janus Nanoprop…
Self-propulsion of particles is typically explained by phoretic mechanisms driven by externally imposed chemical, electric, or thermal gradients. In contrast, chemical reactions can enhance particle diffusion even in the absence of such…
The self-propulsion mechanism of active colloidal particles often generates not only translational but also rotational motion. For particles with an anisotropic mass density under gravity, the motion is usually influenced by a downwards…
Active colloidal systems have emerged as promising contenders for the future of microdevices. While conventional designs have extensively exploited the use of hard colloids, the advancement of cell-inspired architectures represents a…
Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are increasingly used for their thermoplasmonic properties, i.e. their ability to convert light into heat upon plasmon resonance. However, measuring temperature gradients generated at the microscale by assemblies…
Harnessing active matter requires strategies that break the directional symmetry of self-propelled motion without altering the propulsion mechanism itself. Here, we show that magnetically inert spherical active colloids can be steered…
Nanofluidics, the field interested in flows at the smallest scales, has grown at a fast pace, reaching an ever finer control offluidic and ionic transport at the molecular level. Still, artificial pores are far from reaching the wealth of…
In living cells, molecular motors create activity that enhances the diffusion of particles throughout the cytoplasm, and not just ones attached to the motors. We demonstrate initial steps toward creating artificial cells that mimic this…
Chemically active Janus particles generate tangential concentration gradients along their surface for self-propulsion. Although this is well studied in unbounded domains, the analysis in biologically relevant environments such as…
Colloidal motors without moving parts can be propelled by self-diffusiophoresis, coupling molecular concentration gradients generated by surface chemical reactions to the velocity slip between solid Janus particles and the surrounding fluid…
We present a derivation from first principles of the coupled equations of motion of an active self-diffusiophoretic Janus motor and the hydrodynamic densities of its fluid environment that are nonlinearly displaced from equilibrium. The…
Rotation in micro/nanoscale provides extensive applications in mechanical actuation$^{1, 2}$, cargo delivery$^{3, 4}$, and biomolecule manipulation$^{5, 6}$. Light can be used to induce a mechanical rotation remotely, instantly and…
Self-assembly of nanoparticles at fluid-fluid interfaces is a promising route to fabricate functional materials from the bottom-up. However, directing and controlling particles into highly tunable and predictable structures -- while…
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…
The ability to manufacture nanomaterials with complex and structured composition using otherwise incompatible materials increasingly underpins the next generation of technologies. This is translating into growing efforts integrating a wider…
We explore the diffusion dynamics of a Brownian microparticle in a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC). In the planarly oriented nematic phase, the microparticle exhibits levitation and anisotropic two-dimensional diffusion. Upon…
We study the effects of heterogeneity on interfacial pinning and hydrodynamic drag using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of Janus nanospheres at a liquid/vapor interface. We construct the free energy landscape for this system, both in…
Self-phoretic Janus particles move by inducing -- via non-equilibrium chemical reactions occurring on their surfaces -- changes in the chemical composition of the solution in which they are immersed. This process leads to gradients in…
Optical-based nanothermometry represents a transformative approach for precise temperature measurements at the nanoscale, which finds versatile applications across biology, medicine, and electronics. The assembly of ratiometric fluorescent…
The optical manipulation of nanoparticles on superlubricity surfaces is investigated. The research revealed that, due to the near-zero static friction and extremely low dynamic friction at superlubricity interfaces, the maximum intensity…
In this work, we numerically investigate the dynamics of a self-propelling autophoretic Janus particle in a weakly viscoelastic fluid. The self-propulsion is achieved by an asymmetry in the properties of the surface of the Janus particle…