Magnetically actuated propulsion at low Reynolds numbers: towards nanoscale control. 2011

Peer Fischer, and Ambarish Ghosh
Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Heidenhofstrasse 8, 79110, Freiburg, Germany.

Significant progress has been made in the fabrication of micron and sub-micron structures whose motion can be controlled in liquids under ambient conditions. The aim of many of these engineering endeavors is to be able to build and propel an artificial micro-structure that rivals the versatility of biological swimmers of similar size, e.g. motile bacterial cells. Applications for such artificial "micro-bots" are envisioned to range from microrheology to targeted drug delivery and microsurgery, and require full motion-control under ambient conditions. In this Mini-Review we discuss the construction, actuation, and operation of several devices that have recently been reported, especially systems that can be controlled by and propelled with homogenous magnetic fields. We describe the fabrication and associated experimental challenges and discuss potential applications.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008280 Magnetics The study of MAGNETIC PHENOMENA. Magnetic
D002384 Catalysis The facilitation of a chemical reaction by material (catalyst) that is not consumed by the reaction. Catalyses
D042201 Magnetospirillum A genus of microaerophilic, gram-negative bacteria that forms crystals of the mineral magnetite in special organelles called MAGNETOSOMES.
D043942 Nanotubes Nanometer-sized tubes composed of various substances including carbon (CARBON NANOTUBES), boron nitride, or nickel vanadate. Nanorods,Nanorod,Nanotube
D036103 Nanotechnology The development and use of techniques to study physical phenomena and construct structures in the nanoscale size range or smaller. Nanotechnologies

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