Chemo- and Magnetotaxis of Self-Propelled Light-Emitting Chemo-electronic Swimmers

Miniaturized autonomous chemo-electronic swimmers, based on the coupling of spontaneous oxidation and reduction reactions at the two poles of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), are presented as chemotactic and magnetotactic devices. In homogeneous aqueous media, random motion caused by a bubble-induced propulsion mechanism is observed. However, in an inhomogeneous environment, the self-propelled devices exhibit positive chemotactic behavior, propelling themselves along a pH or ionic strength gradient (∇pH and ∇I, respectively) in order to reach a thermodynamically higher active state. In addition, the intrinsic permanent magnetic moment of the LED allows self-orientation in the terrestrial magnetic field or following other external magnetic perturbations, which enables a directional motion control coupled with light emission. The interplay between chemotaxis and magnetotaxis allows fine-tuning of the dynamic behavior of these swimmers.