TY - JOUR
T1 - Spatiotemporal control of cargo delivery performed by programmable self-propelled Janus droplets
AU - Li, Menglin
AU - Brinkmann, Martin
AU - Pagonabarraga, Ignacio
AU - Seemann, Ralf
AU - Fleury, Jean-Baptiste
PY - 2018/6/7
Y1 - 2018/6/7
N2 - Self-propelled droplets capable of transporting cargo to specific target locations are desired tools for many future applications. Here we propose a class of active droplets with programmable delivery time that are attracted or repelled by certain obstacle geometries. These droplets consist of a water/ethanol mixture and are dispersed in an oil/surfactant solution. Owing to a mass exchange between fluid phases during self-propulsion, the initially homogeneous droplets spontaneously de-mix and evolve into characteristic Janus droplets. Cargo molecules, like DNA, can be separated into the trailing ethanol-rich droplet and are carried to their target location “like in a backpack”. The delayed onset of phase separation provides a handle to control the time frame of delivery, while long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions and short-ranged wetting forces are exploited to achieve the desired spatial specificity with respect to obstacle geometry and surface chemistry.
AB - Self-propelled droplets capable of transporting cargo to specific target locations are desired tools for many future applications. Here we propose a class of active droplets with programmable delivery time that are attracted or repelled by certain obstacle geometries. These droplets consist of a water/ethanol mixture and are dispersed in an oil/surfactant solution. Owing to a mass exchange between fluid phases during self-propulsion, the initially homogeneous droplets spontaneously de-mix and evolve into characteristic Janus droplets. Cargo molecules, like DNA, can be separated into the trailing ethanol-rich droplet and are carried to their target location “like in a backpack”. The delayed onset of phase separation provides a handle to control the time frame of delivery, while long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions and short-ranged wetting forces are exploited to achieve the desired spatial specificity with respect to obstacle geometry and surface chemistry.
U2 - 10.1038/s42005-018-0025-4
DO - 10.1038/s42005-018-0025-4
M3 - Article
SN - 2399-3650
VL - 1
JO - Communications Physics
JF - Communications Physics
IS - 1
M1 - 23
ER -