Remote control of self-assembled microswimmers

Autor: Grosjean, Galien, Lagubeau, Guillaume, Darras, Alexis, Hubert, Maxime, Lumay, Geoffroy, Vandewalle, Nicolas
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1038/srep16035
Popis: Physics governing the locomotion of microorganisms and other microsystems is dominated by viscous damping. An effective swimming strategy involves the non-reciprocal and periodic deformations of the considered body. Here, we show that a magnetocapillary-driven self-assembly, composed of three soft ferromagnetic beads, is able to swim along a liquid-air interface when powered by an external magnetic field. More importantly, we demonstrate that trajectories can be fully controlled, opening ways to explore low Reynolds number swimming. This magnetocapillary system spontaneously forms by self-assembly, allowing miniaturization and other possible applications such as cargo transport or solvent flows.
Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures article
Databáze: arXiv