Bidirectional Propulsion of Arc‐Shaped Microswimmers Driven by Precessing Magnetic Fields (original) (raw)
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Langmuir, 2020
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Nature consists of numerous solutions to overcome challenges in designing artificial systems. Various actuation mechanisms have been implemented in microrobots to mimic the motion of microorganisms. Such bio-inspired designs have contributed immensely to microscale developments. Among the actuation mechanisms, magnetic actuation is widely used in bio-inspired microrobotic systems and related propulsion mechanisms used by microrobots to navigate inside a magnetic field and are presented in this review. In addition, the considered robots are in microscale, and they can swim inside a fluidic environment with a low Reynolds number. In relation to microrobotics, mimicry of bacteria flagella, sperm flagella, cilia, and fish are significant. Due to the fact that these biological matters consist of different propulsion mechanisms, the effect of various parameters was investigated in the last decade and the review presents a summary that enhances understanding of the working principle of pro...
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The ability to propel against flows, i.e., to perform positive rheotaxis, can provide exciting opportunities for applications in targeted therapeutics and non-invasive surgery. To date, no biocompatible technologies exist for navigating microparticles upstream when they are in a background fluid flow. Inspired by many naturallyoccurring microswimmers such as bacteria, spermatozoa, and plankton that utilize the non-slip boundary conditions of the wall to exhibit upstream propulsion, here, we report on the design and characterization of self-assembled microswarms that can execute upstream motility in a combination of external acoustic and magnetic fields. Both acoustic and magnetic fields are safe to humans, non-invasive, can penetrate deeply into the human body, and are well-developed in clinical settings. The combination of both fields can overcome the limitations encountered by single actuation methods. The design criteria of the acoustically-induced reaction force of the microswarms, which is needed to perform rolling-type motion, are discussed. We show quantitative agreement between experimental data and our model that captures the rolling behaviour. The upstream capability provides a design strategy for delivering small drug molecules to hard-to-reach sites and represents a fundamental step toward the realization of micro-and nanosystem-navigation against the blood flow.
Nature-inspired microfluidic propulsion using magnetic actuation
Physical Review E, 2009
In this work we mimic the efficient propulsion mechanism of natural cilia by magnetically actuating thin films in a cyclic but non-reciprocating manner. By simultaneously solving the elasto-dynamic, magnetostatic and fluid mechanics equations, we show that the amount of fluid propelled is proportional to the area swept by the cilia. By using the intricate interplay between film magnetization and applied field we are able to generate a pronounced asymmetry and associated flow. We delineate the functional response of the system in terms of three dimensionless parameters that capture the relative contribution of elastic, inertial, viscous and magnetic forces.
Lab on a Chip, 2014
Manipulation of microorganisms with intrinsic motility is a challenging yet important task for many biological and biomedical applications. Currently, such a task has only been accomplished using optical tweezers, while at the risk of averse heating and photodamage of the biological samples. Here, we proposed a new micro-robotic approach for fluidic trapping and two-dimensional transportation of motile microorganisms near a solid surface in fluids. We demonstrated selective trapping and transportation of individual freely swimming multi-flagellated bacteria over a distance of 30 μm (7.5 body length of the carrier) on a surface, using the rotational flows locally induced by a rotating magnetic microparticle. Only a weak uniform magnetic field (<3 mT) was applied to actuate the microparticle. The microparticle can translate on a glass substrate by rotating at a speed of up to 100 μm s −1 , while providing a fluidic force of a few to tens of pico-Newtons.
Self-Assembled Magnetic Surface Swimmers
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We report studies of novel self-assembled magnetic surface swimmers (magnetic snakes), formed from a dispersion of magnetic microparticles on the liquid/air interface and energized by an alternating magnetic field. We show that under certain conditions the snakes spontaneously break the symmetry of surface flows and turn into self-propelled objects. Parameters of the driving magnetic field tune the propulsion velocity of these snake-like swimmers. We find that the surface flows symmetry can be also broken in a controlled fashion by attaching a large bead to a magnetic snake (bead-snake hybrid), transforming it into a robust self-locomoting entity. Observed phenomena have been successfully described by phenomenological model based on the amplitude equation for surface waves coupled to the large-scale hydrodynamic mean flow equation.