Propulsion of Bubble-Based Acoustic Microswimmers

Nicolas Bertin, Tamsin A. Spelman, Olivier Stephan, Laetitia Gredy, Michel Bouriau, Eric Lauga, and Philippe Marmottant
Phys. Rev. Applied 4, 064012 – Published 29 December 2015

Abstract

Acoustic microswimmers present a great potential for microfluidic applications and targeted drug delivery. Here, we introduce armored microbubbles (size range, 1020μm) made by three-dimensional microfabrication, which allows the bubbles to last for hours even under forced oscillations. The acoustic resonance of the armored microbubbles is found to be dictated by capillary forces and not by gas volume, and its measurements agree with a theoretical calculation. We further measure experimentally and predict theoretically the net propulsive flow generated by the bubble vibration. This flow, due to steady streaming in the fluid, can reach 100mm/s, and is affected by the presence of nearby walls. Finally, microswimmers in motion are shown, either as spinning devices or free swimmers.

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  • Received 11 September 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.4.064012

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Nicolas Bertin1,*, Tamsin A. Spelman2, Olivier Stephan1, Laetitia Gredy1, Michel Bouriau1, Eric Lauga2, and Philippe Marmottant1

  • 1CNRS and University Grenoble Alpes, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique UMR 5588, boîte postale 87, F-38402 St. Martin d’Hères Cedex, France
  • 2Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom

  • *nicolas.bertin@ujf-grenoble.fr

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Vol. 4, Iss. 6 — December 2015

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