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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Micromotor-mediated sperm constrictions for improved swimming performance
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg : Springer, 2021) Striggow, Friedrich; Nadporozhskaia, Lidiia; Friedrich, Benjamin M.; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Medina-Sánchez, Mariana
    Sperm-driven micromotors, consisting of a single sperm cell captured in a microcap, utilize the strong propulsion generated by the flagellar beat of motile spermatozoa for locomotion. It enables the movement of such micromotors in biological media, while being steered remotely by means of an external magnetic field. The substantial decrease in swimming speed, caused by the additional hydrodynamic load of the microcap, limits the applicability of sperm-based micromotors. Therefore, to improve the performance of such micromotors, we first investigate the effects of additional cargo on the flagellar beat of spermatozoa. We designed two different kinds of microcaps, which each result in different load responses of the flagellar beat. As an additional design feature, we constrain rotational degrees of freedom of the cell’s motion by modifying the inner cavity of the cap. Particularly, cell rolling is substantially reduced by tightly locking the sperm head inside the microcap. Likewise, cell yawing is decreased by aligning the micromotors under an external static magnetic field. The observed differences in swimming speed of different micromotors are not so much a direct consequence of hydrodynamic effects, but rather stem from changes in flagellar bending waves, hence are an indirect effect. Our work serves as proof-of-principle that the optimal design of microcaps is key for the development of efficient sperm-driven micromotors.
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    Trapping self-propelled micromotors with microfabricated chevron and heart-shaped chips
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2014) Restrepo-Pérez, Laura; Soler, Lluís; Martínez-Cisneros, Cynthia S.; Sanchez, Samuel; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    We demonstrate that catalytic micromotors can be trapped in microfluidic chips containing chevron and heart-shaped structures. Despite the challenge presented by the reduced size of the traps, microfluidic chips with different trapping geometries can be fabricated via replica moulding. We prove that these microfluidic chips can capture micromotors without the need for any external mechanism to control their motion.
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    Carbonate-based Janus micromotors moving in ultra-light acidic environment generated by HeLa cells in situ
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2016) Guix, Maria; Meyer, Anne K.; Koch, Britta; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Novel approaches to develop naturally-induced drug delivery in tumor environments in a deterministic and controlled manner have become of growing interest in recent years. Different polymeric-based microstructures and other biocompatible substances have been studied taking advantage of lactic acidosis phenomena in tumor cells, which decrease the tumor extracellular pH down to 6.8. Micromotors have recently demonstrated a high performance in living systems, revealing autonomous movement in the acidic environment of the stomach or moving inside living cells by using acoustic waves, opening the doors for implementation of such smart microengines into living entities. The need to develop biocompatible motors which are driven by natural fuel sources inherently created in biological systems has thus become of crucial importance. As a proof of principle, we here demonstrate calcium carbonate Janus particles moving in extremely light acidic environments (pH 6.5), whose motion is induced in conditioned acidic medium generated by HeLa cells in situ. Our system not only obviates the need for an external fuel, but also presents a selective activation of the micromotors which promotes their motion and consequent dissolution in presence of a quickly propagating cell source (i.e. tumor cells), therefore inspiring new micromotor configurations for potential drug delivery systems.
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    Self-assembly of Co/Pt stripes with current-induced domain wall motion towards 3D racetrack devices
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group UK, 2024) Fedorov, Pavel; Soldatov, Ivan; Neu, Volker; Schäfer, Rudolf; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Karnaushenko, Daniil
    Modification of the magnetic properties under the induced strain and curvature is a promising avenue to build three-dimensional magnetic devices, based on the domain wall motion. So far, most of the studies with 3D magnetic structures were performed in the helixes and nanowires, mainly with stationary domain walls. In this study, we demonstrate the impact of 3D geometry, strain and curvature on the current-induced domain wall motion and spin-orbital torque efficiency in the heterostructure, realized via a self-assembly rolling technique on a polymeric platform. We introduce a complete 3D memory unit with write, read and store functionality, all based on the field-free domain wall motion. Additionally, we conducted a comparative analysis between 2D and 3D structures, particularly addressing the influence of heat during the electric current pulse sequences. Finally, we demonstrated a remarkable increase of 30% in spin-torque efficiency in 3D configuration.