Colloidal Microworms Propelling via a Cooperative Hydrodynamic Conveyor Belt

We study propulsion arising from microscopic colloidal rotors dynamically assembled and driven in a viscous fluid upon application of an elliptically polarized rotating magnetic field. Close to a confining plate, the motion of this self-assembled microscopic worm results from the cooperative flow ge...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Martínez Pedrero, Fernando, Ortiz-Ambriz, Antonio, Pagonabarraga Mora, Ignacio, Tierno, Pietro
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2015
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/67045
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/67045
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Col·loides
Nanotecnologia
Colloids
Nanotechnology
Descrição
Resumo:We study propulsion arising from microscopic colloidal rotors dynamically assembled and driven in a viscous fluid upon application of an elliptically polarized rotating magnetic field. Close to a confining plate, the motion of this self-assembled microscopic worm results from the cooperative flow generated by the spinning particles which act as a hydrodynamic 'conveyor belt.' Chains of rotors propel faster than individual ones, until reaching a saturation speed at distances where induced-flow additivity vanishes. By combining experiments and theoretical arguments, we elucidate the mechanism of motion and fully characterize the propulsion speed in terms of the field parameters.