Self-Propelled Swimming Microrobot Using Electroosmotic Propulsion and Biofuel Cell
Self-Propelled Swimming Microrobot Using Electroosmotic Propulsion and Biofuel Cell
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DOI：
10.1109/lra.2018.2800103
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发表时间：
2018-01
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
T. Yamanaka;F. Arai
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
T. Yamanaka;F. Arai
自行式游泳微型机器人具有巨大的医疗应用潜力。突出的技术挑战是实现一种适用于微/纳米流体的推进机制和一种可以在人体内发挥作用的能量供应机制。我们提出的概念使用了电渗透推进(EOP)和生物燃料电池(BFC)。BFC机制有一个生物阳极和一个生物催化剂，它们通过生物燃料的氧化还原反应产生开路电位(OCP)。EOP机构具有设置在电极之间的绝缘管。电渗流在管内由OCP产生的电动力产生。然后，反作用力推动机器人前进。我们推导了EOP机构的理论模型，该模型认为较小的机器人将具有较大的速度。以葡萄糖和氧气为生物燃料，设计和制造了一层绝缘层SU-8和两层含有酶的导电层SU-8。“概念验证”实验是使用100美元\亩$M的原型进行的。将在葡萄糖溶液中观察到的自推力与理论估计值进行了比较。结果证实了这一概念的有效性。这种配置可以用作独立的生物医学微型机器人，也可以用作机器人系统中的致动器元件。
Self-propelled swimming microrobots have significant potential for medical applications. The outstanding technical challenges are the realization of a propulsion mechanism suitable for micro/nanoscale fluids and of an energy supply mechanism that can function inside the human body. Our proposed concept uses electroosmotic propulsion (EOP) and biofuel cell (BFC). The BFC mechanism has a bioanode and a biocathode that generate an open-circuit potential (OCP) by redox reactions of biofuels. The EOP mechanism has an insulating tube arranged between the electrodes. Electroosmotic flow is generated inside the tube by the electric force from the OCP. A reaction force then propels the robot. We derived a theoretical model of the EOP mechanism, which suggested that a smaller robot would have a greater velocity. A microscale prototype was designed and fabricated using an insulating SU-8 layer and two conductive SU-8 layers incorporating enzymes, with glucose and oxygen as the biofuels. “Proof-of-Concept” experiments were conducted using the 100 $\mu$m prototypes. The observed self-propulsion in the glucose solution was compared with the theoretically estimated values. The results confirmed the validity of the concept. This configuration can be used as a standalone biomedical microrobot, or as an actuator element in a robot system.