2020/04/03 by Xingting Gong, Gong, Xingting, Arnold J. T. M. Mathijssen +5
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence #Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2004.01368
openalex publication_date 2020/04/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Surface-driven flows are ubiquitous in nature, from subcellular cytoplasmic streaming to organ-scale ciliary arrays. Here, we model how confined geometries can be used to engineer complex hydrodynamic patterns driven by activity prescribed solely on the boundary. Specifically, we simulate light-controlled surface-driven active matter, probing the emergent properties of a suspension of active colloids that can bind and unbind pre-patterned surfaces of a closed microchamber, together creating an active carpet. The attached colloids generate large scale flows that in turn can advect detached particles towards the walls. Switching the particle velocities with light, we program the active suspension and demonstrate a rich design space of flow patterns characterised by topological defects. We derive the possible mode structures and use this theory to optimise different microfluidic functions including hydrodynamic compartmentalisation and chaotic mixing. Our results pave the way towards designing and controlling surface-driven active fluids.