Electric field driven controllable motility of metal-dielectric Janus particles with boojum defects in a nematic liquid crystal

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that metal-dielectric Janus particles with boojum defects in a nematic liquid crystal can be electrically controlled to move in any direction, enabling tunable transport and microrobotic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control Janus particle motility in nematic liquid crystals using electric fields, which was not previously demonstrated.

Findings

Particles move under electric field perpendicular to the director.

Direction of motion is controllable by field amplitude and frequency.

Potential for tunable transport and microrobotics.

Abstract

In a sharp contrast to the response of silica particles we show that the metal-dielectric Janus particles with boojum defects in a nematic liquid crystal are self-propelled under the action of an electric field applied perpendicular to the director. The particles can be transported along any direction in the plane of the sample by selecting the appropriate orientation of the Janus vector with respect to the director. The direction of motion of the particles is controllable by varying the field amplitude and frequency. The command demonstrated on the motility of the particles is promising for tunable transport and microrobotic applications.