Surface-enabled propulsion and control of colloidal microwheels

T. O. Tasci, P. S. Herson, K. B. Neeves and D. W. M. Marr ()
Additional contact information
T. O. Tasci: Colorado School of Mines
P. S. Herson: University of Colorado
K. B. Neeves: Colorado School of Mines
D. W. M. Marr: Colorado School of Mines

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Propulsion at the microscale requires unique strategies such as the undulating or rotating filaments that microorganisms have evolved to swim. These features however can be difficult to artificially replicate and control, limiting the ability to actuate and direct engineered microdevices to targeted locations within practical timeframes. An alternative propulsion strategy to swimming is rolling. Here we report that low-strength magnetic fields can reversibly assemble wheel-shaped devices in situ from individual colloidal building blocks and also drive, rotate and direct them along surfaces at velocities faster than most other microscale propulsion schemes. By varying spin frequency and angle relative to the surface, we demonstrate that microwheels can be directed rapidly and precisely along user-defined paths. Such in situ assembly of readily modified colloidal devices capable of targeted movements provides a practical transport and delivery tool for microscale applications, especially those in complex or tortuous geometries.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10225 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10225

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10225

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().