Synthetic running and tumbling: an autonomous navigation strategy for catalytic nanoswimmers
Synthetic running and tumbling: an autonomous navigation strategy for catalytic nanoswimmers
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DOI：
10.1039/c2sm07283a
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.4
通讯作者：
Howse, Jonathan R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ebbens, Stephen J.;Buxton, Gavin A.;Howse, Jonathan R.
配备微型催化游泳装置，使其能够根据溶液中的刺激自主导航，这是一种有吸引力的方法，可以实现药物输送和其他运输应用。在这里，我们使用由pH响应大小变化的水凝胶制成的游泳装置群的模拟，来研究它们对pH变化的统计响应。我们发现与尺寸变化相关的速度调制，最近发现的催化游泳推进机制的基本特征，在高pH区域产生显著的快速统计积累。由于pH梯度施加的笼化效应，布朗旋转速率的尺寸变化引起的调制也出乎意料地引起了高pH区域的积累，从而增强了这一点。这些模拟结果表明，在恒定的燃料浓度环境中，使用尺寸变化材料自主导航游泳装置的可行性。
Equipping miniaturised catalytic swimming devices with the ability to autonomously navigate in response to solution borne stimuli is an attractive route to enabling drug delivery and other transport applications. Here we use simulations of swarms of swimming devices made from pH responsive size changing hydrogels, to investigate their statistical response to pH variations. We find that the velocity modulation associated with size change, a recently discovered fundamental feature for the catalytic swimmer propulsion mechanism, produces a significant rapid statistical accumulation in high pH regions. This is augmented by size change induced modulation of the Brownian rotational rate, which unexpectedly also causes an accumulation in high pH regions, due to a caging effect imposed by the pH gradient. These simulations consequently show the feasibility of using size changing materials to navigate swimming devices autonomously in response to a stimulus within a constant fuel concentration environment.