Jet-driven viscous locomotion of confined thermoresponsive microgels

Tanasijevi?, Ivan; Jung, Oliver; Koens, Lyndon; Mourran, Ahmed; Lauga, Eric

Abstract

We consider the dynamics of micro-sized, asymmetrically coated thermoresponsive hydrogel ribbons (microgels) under periodic heating and cooling in the confined space between two planar surfaces. As the result of the temperature changes, the volume and, thus, the shape of the slender microgel change, which leads to repeated cycles of bending and elastic relaxation, and to net locomotion. Small devices designed for biomimetic locomotion need to exploit flows that are not symmetric in time (non-reciprocal) to escape the constraints of the scallop theorem and undergo net motion. Unlike other biological slender swimmers, the non-reciprocal bending of the gel centerline is not sufficient here to explain for the overall swimming motion. We show instead that the swimming of the gel results from the flux of water periodically emanating from (or entering) the gel itself due to its shrinking (or swelling). The associated flows induce viscous stresses that lead to a net propulsive force on the gel. We derive a theoretical model for this hypothesis of jet-driven propulsion, which leads to excellent agreement with our experiments.

Citation

Tanasijević, I., Jung, O., Koens, L., Mourran, A., & Lauga, E. (2022). Jet-driven viscous locomotion of confined thermoresponsive microgels. Applied physics letters, 120(10), Article 104101. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0076244

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 28, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Mar 8, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 7, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 11, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 14, 2022
• Journal: Applied Physics Letters
• Print ISSN: 0003-6951
• Electronic ISSN: 1077-3118
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 120
• Issue: 10
• Article Number: 104101
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0076244
• Keywords: Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3945797