Collective motion of Nafion-based micromotors in water
Fraxedas, Jordi (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia)
Reguera, David (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada)
Esplandiu Egido, Maria José (Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	Ion exchange is one of the most interesting processes occurring at the interface between aqueous solutions and polymers, such as the well-known Nafion. If the exchanged ions have different diffusion coefficients, this interchange generates local electric fields which can be harnessed to drive fluid motion. In this work, we show how it is possible to design and fabricate self-propelling microswimmers based on Nafion, driven by ion-exchange, and fueled by innocuous salts. These Nafion micromotors are made using colloidal lithography by micro/nanostructuring Nafion in the form of asymmetric rods. These microswimmers exhibit fascinating collective motion in water driven by the interplay of their self-generated chemical/electric fields and their capability to pump matter nearby towards the collective motile structure. The pumping activity of the microswimmers induces the formation of growing mobile clusters, whose velocity increases with size. Such dynamic structures are able to trap nearby micro/nano-objects while purifying the liquid, which acts both as the transport media and as fuel. Such phenomenology opens the door to potential applications in water remediation that are currently under development.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación CEX2021-001214-S Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-124568NB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-126570NB-I00
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	B-y Ions ; Collective motions ; Colloidal lithography ; Fluid motions ; Local electric field ; Micro-swimmer ; Micromotor ; Mobile cluster ; Nafions ; Nano-structuring
Published in:	Faraday Discussions, Vol. 249 (January 2024) , p. 424-439, ISSN 1364-5498

DOI: 10.1039/d3fd00098b

16 p, 928.1 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles