Issue 40, 2023

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 cluster trajectories. Overall, this system provides a facile means to scalably create micromotors with a range of well-defined motions from discrete building blocks.

Graphical abstract: Magnetically locked Janus particle clusters with orientation-dependent motion in AC electric fields

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
30 Jul 2023
Accepted
01 Oct 2023
First published
02 Oct 2023

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 16268-16276

Author version available

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

J. G. Lee, C. P. Thome, Z. A. Cruse, A. Ganguly, A. Gupta and C. W. Shields, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 16268 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR03744D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements