Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Self-propelled micromotors have shown promise for applications in environmental remediation, sensing, and biomedicine. However, assessing their performance in realistic, 3D microenvironments with dynamic boundaries and complex topography remains a key challenge. Achieving controlled motion and enhanced reactivity under such confinement is critical for both technological applications and fundamental studies on active matter. Here, the integration of light-driven micromotors with liquid marbles is presented, which are gas-permeable droplets encased by hydrophobic particles that act as dynamic, flow-active microreactors. By tuning the coverage of the particulate shell, partially covered liquid marbles are developed that exhibit robust evaporation-induced flows, increasing the average micromotor velocity by approximately threefold compared to sessile droplets. Under illumination, photocatalytic self-propulsion provides an additional velocity component and promotes micromotor dispersion. The combined circulation enhances mass transfer, guiding micromotor accumulation and transport while providing an optical transparent, soft-confinement platform for studying active particles and confined catalytic reactions.
Source: Small
Authors: Anthony Jesús Martínez, Majid Basharat, Shuqin Chen, Samuel Sánchez, Katherine Villa
Language: English
Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,790
Awards: G1175115578, G121809054, G1504027376, G1855990336, G2064873908, G210041235, G2262748287, G2309174360, G2355262757, G2380569567, G24120701, G252646220, G2585926585, G2601397997, G2660406951, G279363373, G288263039, G294895050, G3005324705, G300979063, G34346518, G3461529875, G3480869486, G3681454997, G3821478686, G4042783231, G425668148, G430777504, G434337789, G4789017413, G4890640476, G5080475149, G5195188938, G5421974903, G5555198782, G5852091828, G586857820, G6301630325, G6656126374, G69051668, G703866233, G7084143925, G787121397, G8118709007, G8347645112, G8637226926, G8920660035, G897484643, G99296377
OpenAlex ID: W4414160271