Inspired by the natural design of bacterial flagella, we report artificial bacterial flagella (ABF) that have a comparable shape and size to their organic counterparts and can swim in a controllable fashion using weak applied magnetic fields. The helical swimmer consists of a helical tail resembling the dimensions of a natural flagellum and a thin soft-magnetic “head” on one end. The swimming locomotion of ABF is precisely controlled by three orthogonal electromagnetic coil pairs. Microsphere manipulation is performed, and the thrust force generated by an ABF is analyzed. ABF swimmers represent the first demonstration of microscopic artificial swimmers that use helical propulsion. Self-propelled devices such as these are of interest in fundamental research and for biomedical applications.
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9 February 2009
Research Article|
February 13 2009
Artificial bacterial flagella: Fabrication and magnetic control
Li Zhang;
Li Zhang
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich
, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Jake J. Abbott;
Jake J. Abbott
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich
, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
2Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Utah
, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
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Lixin Dong;
Lixin Dong
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich
, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
3Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Michigan State University
, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
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Bradley E. Kratochvil;
Bradley E. Kratochvil
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich
, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Dominik Bell;
Dominik Bell
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich
, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Bradley J. Nelson
Bradley J. Nelson
a)
1Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich
, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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a)
Electronic mail: bnelson@ethz.ch.
Appl. Phys. Lett. 94, 064107 (2009)
Article history
Received:
October 21 2008
Accepted:
January 19 2009
Citation
Li Zhang, Jake J. Abbott, Lixin Dong, Bradley E. Kratochvil, Dominik Bell, Bradley J. Nelson; Artificial bacterial flagella: Fabrication and magnetic control. Appl. Phys. Lett. 9 February 2009; 94 (6): 064107. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3079655
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