Self-motile colloidal particles: from directed propulsion to random walk.
The motion of an artificial microscale swimmer that uses a chemical reaction catalyzed on its own surface to achieve autonomous propulsion is fully characterized experimentally. It is shown that at short times it has a substantial component of directed motion, with a velocity that depends on the concentration of fuel molecules. At longer times, the motion reverts to a random walk with a substantially enhanced diffusion coefficient. Our results suggest strategies for designing artificial chemotactic systems.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom.
Jonathan R
JR
Howse
Richard A L
RA
Jones
Anthony J
AJ
Ryan
Tim
T
Gough
Reza
R
Vafabakhsh
Ramin
R
Golestanian