title: Directional and path-finding motion of polymer hydrogels driven by liquid mixing.
abstract: The spreading of a miscible liquid with a low surface tension on a water surface generates the directional motion of submerged polymer hydrogels, which could be attributed to convective flows resulting from the gradient of surface tension along the surface (Marangoni effect). The direction and velocity of this motion can be well controlled by altering the driving conditions. Furthermore, a spherical hydrogel can smartly find the path to walk through a microfluidic maze when liquid mixing occurs near the maze exit. This convenient chemical driving approach to transporting submerged objects in a desired way may be useful in microfluidics, micromechanics, and other applications.
authors: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors: Yongxin
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Xiaofang
authors: X
authors: Liu
authors: Xiaofeng
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Junjie
authors: J
authors: Wu
authors: Yuhua
authors: Y
authors: Long
authors: Ning
authors: N
authors: Zhao
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Xu