Abstract
Hydrogels have received increased attention due to their biocompatible material properties, adjustable porosity, ease of functionalization, tuneable shape, and Young's moduli. Initial work has recognized the potential that conferring out‐of‐equilibrium properties to these on the microscale holds and envisions a broad range of biomedical applications. Herein, a simple strategy to integrate multiple swimming modes into catalase‐propelled hydrogel bodies, produced via stop‐flow lithography (SFL), is presented and the different dynamics that result from bubble expulsion are studied. It is found that for “Saturn” filaments, with active poles and an inert midpiece, the fundamental swimming modes correspond to the first three fundamental shape modes that can be obtained by buckling elastic filaments, namely, I, U, and S‐shapes.
Highlights
Fundamental Modes of Swimming Correspond to Fundamental Modes of Shape: Engineering I, U, and S-Shaped Swimmers
The active motility depends on the shape and enzyme distribution within the swimmers: two-component swimmers in a simple rod shape move ballistically (Figure 1c, e), while their three-component equivalents remain static while producing bubbles, which leads to fluid pumping instead, due to the higher symmetry of the system (Figure 1d,f )
We could show that different configurations of hydrogel microswimmers can achieve a set of swimming behaviors dependent on their geometries
Summary
Fundamental Modes of Swimming Correspond to Fundamental Modes of Shape: Engineering I-, U-, and S-Shaped Swimmers. A simple strategy to integrate multiple swimming modes into catalase-propelled hydrogel bodies, produced via stopflow lithography (SFL), is presented and the different dynamics that result from diffusiophoresis, electrophoresis, and Marangoni flow, among others. It is found that for “Saturn” filaments, with active poles and an inert midpiece, the fundamental swimming modes correspond to the first three fundamental shape modes that can be obtained by buckling elastic filaments, namely, I, U, and S-shapes. Declined due, in part, to the rise of novel phoretic propulsion mechanisms,[6,7,8] and because existing manufacturing techniques are able to produce few adaptable properties, such as programmability of trajectories, or complex shape designs.
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