Enhanced motility in a binary mixture of active nano/microswimmers

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology

Background:

• Enhancing the motility of microscale swimmers is crucial for applications like chemical reactions and fertilization.
• Active nano- and microscale swimmers, such as Janus particles and sperm cells, often require improved propulsion.
• Motility enhancement can be achieved by transferring motion from a more active species to a less active one.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the transfer of motility from a more active guest species to a less active host species.
• To quantify the enhancement in host species motility through numerical simulations.
• To explore the potential applications of this motility transfer technique.

Main Methods:

• Numerical simulations were performed to model motility transfer.
• Two cases were studied: interacting particles with weak inertia (analyzing velocity distributions) and interacting overdamped particles (studying effusion rate).
• The velocity distributions and effusion rates were analyzed to detect and quantify motility transfer.

Main Results:

• Motility transfer was successfully detected in both simulated cases.
• The motility of the host species was enhanced by up to a factor of four.
• The study demonstrated the feasibility of transferring motility between different particle types.

Conclusions:

• Motility transfer is an effective strategy for enhancing the propulsion of less active microscale swimmers.
• This technique offers a novel approach for improving the performance of active particles in various scientific fields.
• Potential applications span chemistry, biology, and medicine, including targeted drug delivery and enhanced biochemical processes.