Hydrodynamic rotating motion of micromotors from femtosecond laser microfabrication

The micro-motion of the machine is essential and valuable in environment, biology and medicine research. Environment-propelled micromotion can exhibit driven non-equilibrium behaviors. The energy conversation of micromotors from fluid environment would be an important power supply method for the distributed sensor network. Here, we report a kind of rotating motion of microturbines as micromotors driven by hydrodynamic liquid flow. By using femtosecond laser direct writing technology, the microturbine was fabricated, containing a simple and controllable structure of a fixed central axis and movable blades. The rotation speed could be controlled by the speed of flow, the blade tilt angle, the blade length and the blade number, and the rotation direction of microturbine could be decided by the tilt direction of blades. A dual linkage system constituted two microturbines could be designed and achieved. The ability to harness and control the power of motions appears an important requirement for further development of hydrodynamic flow-driven mechanical systems. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.