Magnetically locked Janus particle clusters with orientation-dependent motion in AC electric fields.

ABSTRACT: Active particles, or micromotors, locally dissipate energy to drive locomotion at small length scales. The type of trajectory is generally fixed and dictated by the geometry and composition of the particle, which can be challenging to tune using conventional fabrication procedures. Here, we report a simple, bottom-up method to magnetically assemble gold-coated polystyrene Janus particles into "locked" clusters that display diverse trajectories when stimulated by AC electric fields. The orientation of particles within each cluster gives rise to distinct modes of locomotion, including translational, rotational, trochoidal, helical, and orbital. We model this system using a simplified rigid beads model and demonstrate qualitative agreement between the predicted and experimentally observed clu

SUBMITTER: Lee JG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10598768 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature