title: An Abiotic Glass-Bead Collector Exhibiting Active Transport.
abstract: Animals relocate objects as needed by active motion. Active transport is ubiquitous in living organisms but has been difficult to realize in abiotic systems. Here we show that a self-propelled droplet can gather scattered beads toward one place on a floor and sweep it clean. This is a biomimetic active transport with loadings and unloadings, because the transport was performed by a carrier and the motion of the carrier was maintained by the energy of the chemical reaction. The oil droplet produced fluctuation of the local number density of the beads on the floor, followed by its autocatalytic growth. This mechanism may inspire the technologies based on active transport wherein chemical and physical substances migrate as in living organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Doshisha University, Tatara Miyako-dani 3-1, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 611-0321, Japan.
authors.forename: Youhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Doshisha University, Tatara Miyako-dani 3-1, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 611-0321, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Doshisha University, Tatara Miyako-dani 3-1, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 611-0321, Japan.
authors.forename: Daigo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Doshisha University, Tatara Miyako-dani 3-1, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 611-0321, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shioi