Reconfigurable artificial microswimmers with internal feedback

Area of Science:

• Soft Matter Physics
• Colloidal Science
• Robotics

Background:

• Biological microswimmers exhibit adaptive motility, a trait difficult to replicate in synthetic counterparts at the microscale.
• Soft robotics allows for adaptation, but scaling this to colloidal systems remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create responsive microswimmers capable of adapting their motility through internal reconfiguration.
• To bridge the gap between biological microswimmer adaptation and soft robotic principles at the colloidal scale.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of deterministic colloidal clusters using sequential capillary assembly.
• Incorporation of thermo-responsive microgels and light-absorbing particles into microswimmer design.
• Utilizing light absorption to induce local heating and trigger microgel phase transitions.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated light-induced adaptation of microswimmer motility via internal reconfiguration.
• Observed coupling between electro-hydrodynamic propulsion and thermally induced changes in particle properties.
• Achieved local dynamical control of microswimmer behavior using simple illumination patterns.

Conclusions:

• Developed a novel strategy for creating adaptive microswimmers at the colloidal scale.
• Showcased the potential of harnessing coupled physical phenomena for active material development.
• Opened new possibilities for designing tactic active materials with light-controlled behaviors.