Marangoni Effect Enabling Autonomously Miniatured Swimmers: Mechanisms, Design Strategy, and Applications

Advanced Functional Materials, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: unknown

Published: Feb. 11, 2025

Abstract Miniature swimmers hold considerable potential for precision tasks in the confined environments, yet challenges persist with a simple, sustained, and controllable actuation their large‐scale applications real‐world scenarios. Marangoni‐propelled miniature (MPMSs), leveraging surface‐tension‐gradient‐driven interfacial flows, emerg as promising solution due to simple implementation scalable operation. The Marangoni effect, characterized by flow caused surface tension gradients, offers propulsion mechanism object movement at liquid surfaces. Leveraging this MPMSs have attracted great interest all over world. In regard, review provides an overview of latest advancement design application MPMSs, highlighting synergy various responsive materials structural engineering enable on‐demand gradients sustained MPMSs. First, it systematically introduces different mechanisms generation gradient actuate these swimmers. Subsequently, elaborately discusses preparation specialized designs employed while elucidating correlation between swimmer strategies. Furthermore, practical across scenarios are presented briefly. Finally, remaining along possible solutions presented.

Language: Английский

---

Biomimetic Individual and Group Behaviors of Bubble‐Thrusted Tubular Micro Sonobots: Unveiling the Mechanism Behind Phenomena

Advanced Engineering Materials, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: unknown

Published: Feb. 21, 2025

To overcome the propulsion difficulties in low Reynolds number environment, natural species have developed their exclusive swimming strategies after 1000 years of evolution. Inspired by those fascinating creatures, diverse artificial microrobots are proposed to achieve distinctive biomimetic motions. However, lack cognition for mechanism hinders exploration multimode biomimicking microrobots, especially at high‐speed locomotion. Herein, behaviors micro sonobot featured with multiple‐layer tubular constructions and trapped microbubbles serving as powerful microengines reported. The observed speed achieves tens millimeters per second. Different from previously reported bubble‐loaded it is that primary Bjerknes forces originating nonhomogeneous acoustic field make a great contribution orientation. Along streaming secondary forces, including individual locomotion group aggregation emerged theoretically analyzed. motion sonobots offers marvelous potentials building multifunctional micro/nanosystems nanosurgery, lab‐on‐a‐chip biosystems, chemical biological engineering, environmental detoxification, etc.

Language: Английский

---

Micro/Nanorobots for Advanced Light‐Based Biosensing and Imaging

Advanced Functional Materials, Journal Year: 2024, Volume and Issue: unknown

Published: Oct. 6, 2024

Abstract Sensing and imaging of biomolecules are crucial to disease diagnosis, prognosis, therapy where optical techniques have essential utility. Untethered remotely controlled micro/nanorobots shown promising sensing capabilities, especially in complex biological environments. In this review, how used for biosensing while highlighting the significant developments field is discussed. Starting done by exploring colorimetric methods enabled micro/nanorobots. Significant advancements surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy‐integrated reviewed. Further, state‐of‐the‐art bio‐imaging applications at vitro intracellular level highlighted. Novel vivo assisted micro/nanorobot sensors examined. Furthermore, innovations assessed motion augmentation as a detection mechanism, with point‐of‐care molecular diagnostics. Finally, challenges associated micro/nanorobots‐assisted advanced discussing insights about potential research directions rapidly progressing summarized.

Language: Английский

---

Crossing the Dimensional Divide with Optoelectronic Tweezers: Multicomponent Light‐Driven Micromachines with Motion Transfer in Three Dimensions

Advanced Materials, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: unknown

Published: Feb. 13, 2025

Abstract Micromachines capable of performing diverse mechanical tasks in complex and constrained microenvironments are great interest. Despite important milestones this pursuit, until now, micromachines confined to actuation within a single 2D plane due the challenges transferring motion across different planes limited space. Here, breakthrough method is presented overcome limitation: multi‐component that facilitate 3D transfer planes. These light‐driven micromachines, fabricated using standard photolithography combined with direct laser writing, assembled actuated via programmable light patterns an optoelectronic tweezers system. Utilizing charge‐induced repulsion dielectrophoretic levitation effects, enable highly efficient rotation effective inter‐component transfer. Through work, fascinating similarities unveiled for new microscale systems when compared macro‐scale world which they live, paving way development micromechanical devices microsystems ever increasing functionality versatility.

Language: Английский

---

Propulsion contribution from individual filament in a flagellar bundle

Applied Physics Letters, Journal Year: 2025, Volume and Issue: 126(7)

Published: Feb. 17, 2025

Flagellated microorganisms overcome the low-Reynolds-number time reversibility by rotating helical flagella [E. M. Purcell, Am. J. Phys. 45, 3–11 (1977); D. Bray, Cell Movements: From Molecules to Motility, 2nd ed. (Garland Publishing, New York, NY, 2001); Lauga and Powers, Rep. Prog. 72, 096601 (2009); E. Lauga, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 48, 105–130 (2016)]. For peritrichous bacteria, randomly distributed flagellar filaments align in same direction form a bundle, facilitating complex locomotive strategies [Berg Brown, Nature 239, 500–504 (1972); Turner et al., Bacteriol. 182, 2793–2801 (2000); Darnton 189, 1756–1764 (2007)]. To understand process of bundling, especially propulsion force generation, we develop multi-functional macroscopic experimental system employ advanced numerical simulations for verification. Flagellar arrangements phase differences between helices are investigated, revealing variation contributions from individual helices. Numerically, build time-dependent model match bundling study influence hydrodynamic interactions. Surprisingly, it is found that total generated bundle two constant at various However, difference each helix significantly affected difference, only one responsible when equal π. Building on our computational results, theoretical considering contribution filament better microbial locomotion mechanisms, wobbling behavior cell. Our work also sheds light design control artificial microswimmers.

Language: Английский

---