A simple catch: Fluctuations enable hydrodynamic trapping of microrollers by obstacles

Ernest B. van der Wee; Brendan C. Blackwell; Florencio Balboa Usabiaga; Andrey Sokolov; Isaiah T. Katz; Blaise Delmotte; Michelle M. Driscoll

doi:10.1126/sciadv.ade0320

A simple catch: Fluctuations enable hydrodynamic trapping of microrollers by obstacles

Ernest B. van der Wee^*, Brendan C. Blackwell, Florencio Balboa Usabiaga, Andrey Sokolov, Isaiah T. Katz, Blaise Delmotte^*, Michelle M. Driscoll^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

It is known that obstacles can hydrodynamically trap bacteria and synthetic microswimmers in orbits, where the trapping time heavily depends on the swimmer flow field and noise is needed to escape the trap. Here, we use experiments and simulations to investigate the trapping of microrollers by obstacles. Microrollers are rotating particles close to a bottom surface, which have a prescribed propulsion direction imposed by an external rotating magnetic field. The flow field that drives their motion is quite different from previously studied swimmers. We found that the trapping time can be controlled by modifying the obstacle size or the colloid-obstacle repulsive potential. We detail the mechanisms of the trapping and find two remarkable features: The microroller is confined in the wake of the obstacle, and it can only enter the trap with Brownian motion. While noise is usually needed to escape traps in dynamical systems, here, we show that it is the only means to reach the hydrodynamic attractor.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	eade0320
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	9
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade0320
State	Published - Mar 2023

Funding

Acknowledgments:W ethankB.SprinkleandA.DonevfordiscussionsandM.Youssefand S.Sacannaforprovidingthehematite/TPMparticles.Funding:Thisworkwassupportedbythe NationalScienceFoundationunderawardnumberCBET-1706562.F .B.U. issupportedby\u201Cla Caixa\u201DFoundation(ID100010434),fellowshipLCF/BQ/-PI20/11760014,andfromtheEuropean Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation progr amme under the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie grantagreementno.847648.B.D.acknowledgessupportfromtheFrenchNationalResearch Agency(ANR)underawardno.ANR-20-CE30-0006.B.D.alsothankstheNVIDIAAcademic Partnershipprogramforprovidinggraphicsprocessingunithardwareforperformingsomeof the simulations reported here. The research efforts of A.S. were supported by the U.S. DepartmentofEnergy,OfficeofScience,BasicEnergySciences,MaterialsSciencesand EngineeringDivision.Authorcontributions:E.B.v.d.W .andM.M.D.conceivedanddesigned the research. E.B.v.d.W ., F .B.U., and B.D. performed the simulations. F .B.U. implemented the obstaclesintotherigidmultiblobcode.E.B.v.d.W .andI.T .K. builttheexperimentalsetup.A.S. printedtheobstacles.B.C.B.,E.B.v.d.W ., andI.T .K. performedtheexperiments.E.B.v.d.W ., B.C.B., B.D.,andM.M.D.analyzedthedata.E.B.v.d.W ., B.D.,andM.M.D.wrotethemanuscript. Competinginterests:Theauthorsdeclarethattheyhav enocompetinginterest.Dataand materialsavailability:Alldataneededtoevaluatetheconclusionsinthepaperarepresentin thepaperand/ortheSupplementaryMaterials.

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title = "A simple catch: Fluctuations enable hydrodynamic trapping of microrollers by obstacles",

abstract = "It is known that obstacles can hydrodynamically trap bacteria and synthetic microswimmers in orbits, where the trapping time heavily depends on the swimmer flow field and noise is needed to escape the trap. Here, we use experiments and simulations to investigate the trapping of microrollers by obstacles. Microrollers are rotating particles close to a bottom surface, which have a prescribed propulsion direction imposed by an external rotating magnetic field. The flow field that drives their motion is quite different from previously studied swimmers. We found that the trapping time can be controlled by modifying the obstacle size or the colloid-obstacle repulsive potential. We detail the mechanisms of the trapping and find two remarkable features: The microroller is confined in the wake of the obstacle, and it can only enter the trap with Brownian motion. While noise is usually needed to escape traps in dynamical systems, here, we show that it is the only means to reach the hydrodynamic attractor.",

author = "{van der Wee}, {Ernest B.} and Blackwell, {Brendan C.} and Usabiaga, {Florencio Balboa} and Andrey Sokolov and Katz, {Isaiah T.} and Blaise Delmotte and Driscoll, {Michelle M.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors, some rights reserved;",

year = "2023",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.ade0320",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "9",

journal = "Science Advances",

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AU - van der Wee, Ernest B.

AU - Blackwell, Brendan C.

AU - Usabiaga, Florencio Balboa

AU - Sokolov, Andrey

AU - Katz, Isaiah T.

AU - Delmotte, Blaise

AU - Driscoll, Michelle M.

PY - 2023/3

Y1 - 2023/3

N2 - It is known that obstacles can hydrodynamically trap bacteria and synthetic microswimmers in orbits, where the trapping time heavily depends on the swimmer flow field and noise is needed to escape the trap. Here, we use experiments and simulations to investigate the trapping of microrollers by obstacles. Microrollers are rotating particles close to a bottom surface, which have a prescribed propulsion direction imposed by an external rotating magnetic field. The flow field that drives their motion is quite different from previously studied swimmers. We found that the trapping time can be controlled by modifying the obstacle size or the colloid-obstacle repulsive potential. We detail the mechanisms of the trapping and find two remarkable features: The microroller is confined in the wake of the obstacle, and it can only enter the trap with Brownian motion. While noise is usually needed to escape traps in dynamical systems, here, we show that it is the only means to reach the hydrodynamic attractor.

AB - It is known that obstacles can hydrodynamically trap bacteria and synthetic microswimmers in orbits, where the trapping time heavily depends on the swimmer flow field and noise is needed to escape the trap. Here, we use experiments and simulations to investigate the trapping of microrollers by obstacles. Microrollers are rotating particles close to a bottom surface, which have a prescribed propulsion direction imposed by an external rotating magnetic field. The flow field that drives their motion is quite different from previously studied swimmers. We found that the trapping time can be controlled by modifying the obstacle size or the colloid-obstacle repulsive potential. We detail the mechanisms of the trapping and find two remarkable features: The microroller is confined in the wake of the obstacle, and it can only enter the trap with Brownian motion. While noise is usually needed to escape traps in dynamical systems, here, we show that it is the only means to reach the hydrodynamic attractor.

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A simple catch: Fluctuations enable hydrodynamic trapping of microrollers by obstacles

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