Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam

One objective of active matter science is to unveil principles by which chaotic microscale dynamics could be transformed into useful work. A nematic liquid crystal environment offers a number of possibilities, one of which is a directional motion of an active droplet filled with an aqueous dispersio...

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Autores principales:	Mojtaba Rajabi, Hend Baza, Hao Wang, Oleg D. Lavrentovich
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	active matter active colloids microswimmer self-propulsion liquid crystal living matter Physics QC1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0b20b152046243a6a3156b6d313fab7d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0b20b152046243a6a3156b6d313fab7d2021-11-30T17:49:07ZDynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam2296-424X10.3389/fphy.2021.752994https://doaj.org/article/0b20b152046243a6a3156b6d313fab7d2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2021.752994/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-424XOne objective of active matter science is to unveil principles by which chaotic microscale dynamics could be transformed into useful work. A nematic liquid crystal environment offers a number of possibilities, one of which is a directional motion of an active droplet filled with an aqueous dispersion of swimming bacteria. In this work, using the responsiveness of the nematic to the electric field and light, we demonstrate how to control the direction and speed of active droplets. The dielectric response of nematic to the electric field causes two effects: 1) reorientation of the overall director, and 2) changing the symmetry of the director configuration around the droplet. The first effect redirects the propulsion direction while the second one changes the speed. A laser beam pointed to the vicinity of the droplet can trigger the desired director symmetry around the droplet, by switching between dipolar and quadrupolar configurations, thus affecting the motility and polarity of propulsion. The dynamic tuning of the direction and speed of active droplets represents a step forward in the development of controllable microswimmers.Mojtaba RajabiMojtaba RajabiHend BazaHend BazaHao WangOleg D. LavrentovichOleg D. LavrentovichOleg D. LavrentovichFrontiers Media S.A.articleactive matteractive colloidsmicroswimmerself-propulsionliquid crystalliving matterPhysicsQC1-999ENFrontiers in Physics, Vol 9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	active matter active colloids microswimmer self-propulsion liquid crystal living matter Physics QC1-999
spellingShingle	active matter active colloids microswimmer self-propulsion liquid crystal living matter Physics QC1-999 Mojtaba Rajabi Mojtaba Rajabi Hend Baza Hend Baza Hao Wang Oleg D. Lavrentovich Oleg D. Lavrentovich Oleg D. Lavrentovich Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam
description	One objective of active matter science is to unveil principles by which chaotic microscale dynamics could be transformed into useful work. A nematic liquid crystal environment offers a number of possibilities, one of which is a directional motion of an active droplet filled with an aqueous dispersion of swimming bacteria. In this work, using the responsiveness of the nematic to the electric field and light, we demonstrate how to control the direction and speed of active droplets. The dielectric response of nematic to the electric field causes two effects: 1) reorientation of the overall director, and 2) changing the symmetry of the director configuration around the droplet. The first effect redirects the propulsion direction while the second one changes the speed. A laser beam pointed to the vicinity of the droplet can trigger the desired director symmetry around the droplet, by switching between dipolar and quadrupolar configurations, thus affecting the motility and polarity of propulsion. The dynamic tuning of the direction and speed of active droplets represents a step forward in the development of controllable microswimmers.
format	article
author	Mojtaba Rajabi Mojtaba Rajabi Hend Baza Hend Baza Hao Wang Oleg D. Lavrentovich Oleg D. Lavrentovich Oleg D. Lavrentovich
author_facet	Mojtaba Rajabi Mojtaba Rajabi Hend Baza Hend Baza Hao Wang Oleg D. Lavrentovich Oleg D. Lavrentovich Oleg D. Lavrentovich
author_sort	Mojtaba Rajabi
title	Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam
title_short	Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam
title_full	Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam
title_fullStr	Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam
title_full_unstemmed	Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam
title_sort	dynamic control of speed and trajectories of active droplets in a nematic environment by electric field and focused laser beam
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/0b20b152046243a6a3156b6d313fab7d
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Dynamic Control of Speed and Trajectories of Active Droplets in a Nematic Environment by Electric Field and Focused Laser Beam

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