Controlled swimming in confined fluids of magnetically actuated colloidal rotors

We show that DNA-linked anisotropic doublets composed of paramagnetic colloidal particles can be endowed with controlled propulsion when floating above a flat plate and subjected to a magnetic field precessing around an axis parallel to the plate. The propulsion mechanism for this artificial swimmer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2008-11, Vol.101 (21), p.218304-218304, Article 218304
Main Authors: Tierno, Pietro, Golestanian, Ramin, Pagonabarraga, Ignacio, Sagués, Francesc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anisotropy
Camps magnètics
Colloids - chemistry
DNA - chemistry
Física de partícules
Magnetic fields
Magnetics
Models, Chemical
Movement
Particle physics
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Summary:We show that DNA-linked anisotropic doublets composed of paramagnetic colloidal particles can be endowed with controlled propulsion when floating above a flat plate and subjected to a magnetic field precessing around an axis parallel to the plate. The propulsion mechanism for this artificial swimmer does not involve deformations, and it makes use of the minimal two degrees of freedom needed to propel it at low Reynolds numbers. We combine experimental observations with a theoretical analysis that fully characterizes the propulsion velocity in terms of the strength and frequency of the actuating magnetic field.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.101.218304