Eppur si muove, and yet it moves: Patchy (phoretic) swimmers

A. Aubret (1) , S. Ramananarivo (1) , J. Palacci (1)

1 UCSD - UCSD Department of physics

Advances in colloidal synthesis allow for the design of particles with controlled patches. This article reviews routes towards colloidal locomotion, where energy is consumed and converted into motion, and its implementation with active patchy particles. A special emphasis is given to phoretic swimmers, where the self-propulsion originates from an interfacial phenomenon, raising experimental challenges and opening up opportunities for particles with controlled anisotropic surface chemistry and novel behaviors.

Mots clés: Interfacial Transport; Phoresis; Patchy; Active Colloids

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Autre [cond-mat.other]; Mécanique statistique [cond-mat.stat-mech]; Optique [physics.optics]

A. Aubret, S. Ramananarivo, J. Palacci. Eppur si muove, and yet it moves: Patchy (phoretic) swimmers. Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface Science, 2017, 30, pp.81 - 89. ⟨10.1016/j.cocis.2017.05.007⟩. ⟨hal-03279186⟩