Probing and Leveraging the Collective Effects of Flexible Biomimetic Microswimmers

该提案旨在制造和研究定制的柔性仿生磁性微泳者群体，并利用它们进行应用。游泳者将由一个磁性粒子“身体”和一个DNA折纸“鞭毛”组成，这两个结构元素都是按顺序准备的。由于这两种结构都有助于流体动力学相互作用，它们的受控生产，与游泳者密度的系统变化相吻合，将允许这些设计特征与集体游泳的性质相联系。这种联系将产生更深入的了解在微米级的合作效应的普遍性，新的见解之间的相互作用的水动力和磁力microswimmer和如何利用这些应用程序。

This proposal aims to fabricate and study populations of custom-made flexible biomimetic magnetic microswimmers and leverage them for application. The swimmers will consist of a magnetic particle ‘body’ and a DNA origami ‘flagellum’ with both of these structural elements being prepared to order. Because both architectures contribute to hydrodynamic interactions, their controlled production, tallied with systematic changes in swimmer density, will allow a connection of these design features to the nature of collective swimming. This connection will yield a deeper understanding of the universality of cooperative effects at the micron scale, new insights into the interplay of hydrodynamic and magnetic forces between microswimmers and how these can be leveraged for application.