title: Colloidal caterpillars for cargo transportation.
abstract: Tunable transport of tiny objects in fluid systems is demanding in diverse fields of science such as drug delivery, active matter far from equilibrium, and lab-on-a-chip applications. Here, we report the directed motion of colloidal particles and self-assembled colloidal chains in a nematic liquid crystal matrix using electrohydrodynamic convection (EHC) rolls. The asymmetric distortion of the molecular orientation around the particles results - for single particles - in a hopping motion from one EHC roll to the next and - for colloidal chains - in a caterpillar-like motion in the direction perpendicular to the roll axes. We demonstrate the use of colloidal chains as microtraction engines for the transport of various types of microcargo.
authors.affiliation: Division of Applied Physics, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 13 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-8628, Japan. orihara@eng.hokudai.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takikawa
authors.forename: V S R
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Jampani
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoshikawa
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seto
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bahr
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herminghaus
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Orihara
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry; D009038:Motion; D058105:Polymerization; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D004337:Drug Carriers