Séminaire

Lundi 23 Janvier 2017 à 11h00.

Self-propulsion of autophoretic particles

''Designing artificial micro swimmers has so far mostly followed bio-inspired design, reproducing the helical flagellum of bacteria or the beating of sperm cells. Those require however an external magnetic forcing to move, and as such are not truly self-propelled. Fuel-based or phoretic swimmers represent a promising alternative approach. Exploiting short-range interactions and physicochemical exchanges with their environment, they create a net slip forcing at their boundary in response to a tracer gradient. In this presentation, I will propose an overview of our recent work on the fundamental principles driving the individual locomotion of such active colloids in low-Re flows, focusing specifically on the role of geometry and the different symmetry-breaking mechanisms.''