Magnetic Propulsion of Self-Assembled Colloidal Carpets: Efficient Cargo Transport via a Conveyor-Belt Effect

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile method to create and steer colloidal carpets that can transport biological cargos efficiently using a hydrodynamic conveyor-belt effect, with potential for smart microscale devices.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to assemble and control colloidal carpets for cargo transport, demonstrating their maneuverability and obstacle-surpassing abilities.

Findings

Colloidal carpets can be remotely steered in any direction.

They effectively entrap and release biological cargos.

The system exhibits a 'healing' ability to overcome obstacles.

Abstract

We demonstrate a general method to assemble and propel highly maneuverable colloidal carpets which can be steered via remote control in any direction of the plane. These colloidal micropropellers are composed by an ensemble of spinning rotors and can be readily used to entrap, transport, and release biological cargos on command via a hydrodynamic conveyor-belt effect. An efficient control of the cargo transportation combined with remarkable "healing" ability to surpass obstacles demonstrate a great potential towards development of multifunctional smart devices at the microscale.