We report a multifunctional micromotor fabricated by the self-assembly technique using multifunctional materials, i.e. polymer single crystals and nanoparticles, as basic building blocks. Not only can this micromotor achieve autonomous and directed movement, it also possesses unprecedented functions, including enzymatic degradation-induced micromotor disassembly, sustained release and molecular...

The hydrodynamic behavior and propulsion mechanism of self-propelled micromotors are studied theoretically and experimentally. A hydrodynamic model to describe bubble growth and detachment is proposed to investigate the mechanism of a self-propelled conical tubular catalytic micromotor considering bubble geometric asymmetry and buoyancy force. The growth force caused by the growth of the bubble...

In this study, we report a hemisphere-like micromotor. Intriguingly, the micromotor exhibits controllable on-off-on motion, which can be actuated by two different external stimuli (UV and NH3). Moreover, the moving direction of the micromotor can be manipulated by the direction in which UV and NH3 are applied. As a result, the motion accelerates when both stimuli are applied in the same directi...

A flower-shaped micromotor driven by gliding bacteria named Mycoplasma mobile (M. mobile) has been developed by using two-photon microfabrication. This micromotor is autonomously rotated by the collisions of M. mobiles gliding randomly on a substrate. The flower-shaped rotor is derived from the unique motility of M. mobile. We examined the motility characteristics of M. mobile using walls with ...

We describe a polymer-based artificial tadpole-like micromotor, which is fabricated through the electrospinning technique. By incorporating functional materials onto its surface or within its body, the resulting tadpole-like micromotor can not only move autonomously in an aqueous solution with a flexible tail, but also exhibit thermo- and magnetic responsive properties.

This paper presents our latest research activities toward the development of electrostatic micromotors/microgenerators with a microball-bearing support mechanism and benzocyclobutene (BCB) low-k polymer insulating layers. The primary applications of these devices are long-range, high-speed micropositioning, high-speed micro pumping and micro power generation. In this paper, we present the devel...

In this paper, we report the utilization of nanoparticles to mediate the motion of a polymer single crystal catalytic micromotor. Micromotors have been fabricated by directly self-assembling functional nanoparticles (platinum and iron oxide nanoparticles) onto one or both sides of two-dimensional polymer single crystals. We show that the moving velocity of these micromotors in fluids can be rea...

System level simulation results of a planar electrostatic micromotor, based on analytical models of the static and dynamic torque behaviours, are presented. A planar variable capacitance (VC) electrostatic micromotor designed, fabricated and tested at LAAS (Toulouse) in 1995 is simulated using the high level language VHDL–AMS (VHSIC (very high speed integrated circuits) hardware description lan...

We report the dynamic characterization of a six-phase, bottom-drive, linear, variable-capacitance micromotor (B-LVCM) supported on microball earings. The B-LVCM was fabricated and tested using a new test-bed. The motion of the micromotor was captured using lowand high-speed ideo cameras, tracked using image processing software, and analyzed to obtain the instantaneous velocity (11 mm/s), accele...

A highly efficient light-driven photocatalytic TiO2-Au Janus micromotor with wireless steering and velocity control is described. Unlike chemically propelled micromotors which commonly require the addition of surfactants or toxic chemical fuels, the fuel-free Janus micromotor (diameter ∼1.0 μm) can be powered in pure water under an extremely low ultraviolet light intensity (2.5 × 10(-3) W/cm(2)...