Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xi Chen, Xiaowen Chen, Mohamed Elsayed, Harrison Edwards, Jiayu Liu, Yixin Peng, H. P. Zhang, Shuailong Zhang, Wei Wang, Aaron R. Wheeler
Summary: Researchers have developed an optoelectronic strategy to control the motion of micromotors using programmable light patterns. By illuminating hydrogenated amorphous silicon, local electric field maxima are generated at the edge of the light pattern, attracting micromotors. This method allows for precise control of micromotors in customized paths and through complex microstructures, as well as enabling multiple motion modes and parallel control of multiple micromotors.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Dajian Li, Yuhong Zheng, Zhanxiang Zhang, Qi Zhang, Xiaoying Huang, Renfeng Dong, Yuepeng Cai, Lin Wang
Summary: This article reports a novel hybrid micromotor that can propel itself effectively in both fueled and fuel-free environments, and exhibit group motion behavior regulated by an acoustic field. This micromotor with dual driving mode and flexible propulsion regulation is of great significance for the development of artificial nanomachines.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Angus Unruh, Ethan J. Savage, Ayusman Sen
Summary: The design of functional nano/micro machines capable of carrying out complex tasks is a current area of interest. Precise control over the motion of these machines is essential, and this can be achieved by adding asymmetric nickel stripes to chemically powered gold-platinum disks and using magnetic fields. This study demonstrates the ability to initiate or stop particle motion on demand and direct their trajectories into specific patterns, such as orbital or rotational paths, while also allowing them to pick up and move heavier cargo particles.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Golak Kunti, Yue Wu, Gilad Yossifon
Summary: Recent studies have focused on electrically powered active particles that can both self-propel and manipulate cargo load and release, with a focus on spherically shaped Janus particles and parallel electrically conducting plates setup. By extending these active carriers to accommodate desired shapes and selective metallic coating using photolithography, controlled dielectrophoretic traps can be designed on them, allowing for sophisticated control over mobility and cargo loading. Additionally, these engineered particles exhibit diverse and rich behaviors compared to spherical JP, showing interesting motion in an electrically insulating substrate setup with in-plane electric field, tilt angle, and even flipping, depending on the field frequency and amplitude.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ting Pan, Yang Shi, Nan Zhao, Jianyun Xiong, Yuqing Xiao, Hongbao Xin, Baojun Li
Summary: This study introduces a noncontact delivery platform based on bio-micromotor tweezers that can achieve precise control over bio-cargos in bio-microenvironments with minimal invasiveness, flexible controllability, and full biocompatibility. This approach effectively reduces biological damages and enables targeted drug delivery into single cancer cells. Such bio-micromotor tweezers hold great potential for diverse biomedical applications including targeted drug/cell delivery, drug testing, accurate diagnosis, and precise therapy.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Junjie Pan, Chi-ling Chiang, Xinyu Wang, Paul Bertani, Yifan Ma, Junao Cheng, Vishank Talesara, Ly James Lee, Wu Lu
Summary: Nanochannel electroporation (NEP) is a new technology for cell transfection that offers improved gene delivery and cell viability compared to conventional bulk electroporation (BEP). NEP uses an asymmetric electric field to induce asymmetric membrane poration of cells laid on a porous substrate. This study systematically investigates the transfection window of NEP for different sized molecules and shows that small molecules can be delivered with minimal impact on the non-transfection membrane, while larger molecules require higher voltages but can result in lower cell viability. Numerical analysis of transmembrane potential allows for prediction of membrane damage and cargo delivery in NEP, providing a comprehensive understanding of the process.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Dejia Geng, Lei Chen, Sinan Du, Xiang Yang, Huaguang Wang, Zexin Zhang
Summary: A facile method is reported to synthesize uniform organic-inorganic hybrid active colloids based on the wetting effect of polystyrene (PS) with photoresponsive inorganic nanoparticles. Different inorganic components such as AgCl, ZnO, TiO2, and Fe2O3 nanoparticles can be used to produce a range of dimer active colloids. The strategy also allows for the preparation of dual-drive active colloids by selecting the starting organic materials.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Vaibhav Sharma, Elise Azar, Andre P. Schroder, Carlos M. Marques, Antonio Stocco
Summary: The study reveals that active particles exhibit persistent orbital motion around giant lipid vesicles, independent of the sizes of the particles and vesicles. Additionally, force and torque transfers between the active particles and vesicles are described in the experimental investigation. These findings differ from recent reports on interactions between active particles and solid spheres or liquid drops, and may have implications for understanding the interactions of swimming particles with cells in biology or with microplastics in environmental science.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jianhua Zhang, Abhrajit Laskar, Jiaqi Song, Oleg E. Shklyaev, Fangzhi Mou, Jianguo Guan, Anna C. Balazs, Ayusman Sen
Summary: Through experiments and simulations, this study demonstrates that fuel-free photoactive TiO2 microparticles can form mobile and coherent swarms under UV light. These swarms exhibit rich collective behavior due to multiple propulsion mechanisms, allowing for the reverse manipulation of cargo. This research overcomes three limitations of self-propelled particles, offering potential applications in portable devices and advancements in microfluidics.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Paula Mayorga-Burrezo, Carmen C. Mayorga-Martinez, Jeonghyo Kim, Martin Pumera
Summary: Growing awareness of the harmful effects of sunlight overexposure has led to the regular use of sunscreens. However, the increasing concentration of related pollutants has caused major environmental side-effects. To address this global threat, magnetically-driven photoactive microrobots have been developed for water remediation, offering an efficient solution. These microrobots exhibit magnetic steering motion and easy retrieval, thanks to their modified surface. By combining adsorption and photocatalytic activity, they can effectively degrade organic UV filters in suntan lotions. The magnetically-driven navigation contributes to the enhanced degradation of these harmful substances.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jachen Solinger, Harun-Or Rashid, Anne Spang
Summary: Cellular organization, compartmentalization, and cell-to-cell communication rely on endosomal pathways, and FERARI plays a crucial role in coordinating these pathways and regulating cargo flow through sorting endosomes via a kiss-and-run mechanism.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jin-Sung Park, Il-Buem Lee, Hyeon-Min Moon, Seok-Cheol Hong, Minhaeng Cho
Summary: Researchers used a label-free interferometric scattering microscope to track cargo transportation in cells and discovered that cells employ strategies similar to human transportation systems to overcome transportation hurdles.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Alexander R. Sprenger, Christian Bair, Hartmut Loewen
Summary: This paper presents an analytic framework for active Brownian motion with memory delay based on the generalized Langevin equation, assuming time-dependent friction kernels for both translational and orientational degrees of freedom. Analytical results for the orientational correlation function, mean displacement, and mean-square displacement are obtained and evaluated for a Maxwell fluid characterized by an exponentially decaying kernel. The paper also identifies a memory-induced delay between the effective self-propulsion force and the particle orientation, quantified by a special dynamical correlation function. These predictions can be verified experimentally with active colloidal particles in various viscoelastic environments such as polymer solutions.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Sankha Shuvra Das, Shahar Erez, Emil Karshalev, Yue Wu, Joseph Wang, Gilad Yossifon
Summary: Researchers propose a triple-engine hybrid micromotor based on electric and magnetic fields for driving Mg-based micromotors. Electric fields can dynamically tune the micromotor mobility and be used for cell trapping, transport, and drug delivery. Magnetic rolling is used for self-propulsion and steering, as electric propulsion requires low conductivity mediums while Mg dissolution requires a low pH environment.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kuntal Patel, Holger Stark
Summary: In recent years, the combination of nonlinear microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip devices has provided new opportunities for chemical and biomedical applications. This article presents a study on the integration of active matter into a microfluidic setting, where active particles generate flows and destabilize the fluid interface, leading to droplet formation. The study utilizes lattice-Boltzmann simulations, phase field dynamics, and advection-diffusion equations to analyze the behavior of the system. The results demonstrate the potential for controlling droplet formation using switchable activity.
