Electrically activated ferroelectric nematic microrobots

Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are fluids exhibiting spontaneous electric polarization, which is coupled to their long range orientational order. Due to their inherent property of making bound and surface charges, the free surface of ferroelectric nematics becomes unstable in electric fields. Here we show that ferroelectric liquid bridges between two electrode plates undergo distinct interfacial instabilities. In a specific range of frequency and voltage, the ferroelectric fluid bridges move as active interacting particles resembling living organisms like swarming insects, microbes or microrobots. The motion is accompanied by sound emission, as a consequence of piezoelectricity and electrostriction. Statistical analysis of the active particles reveals that the movement can be controlled by the applied voltage, which implies the possible application of the system in new types of microfluidic devices.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2024-08-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50226-y
Citations
20
Primary Topic
Micro and Nano Robotics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.22

Funders

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article

Electrically activated ferroelectric nematic microrobots

Fumito Araoka, Antal I. Jákli, Péter Salamon, Marcell Tibor Máthé et al.
20 citations
Nature Communications
Micro and Nano Robotics
6.22
article

Electrically activated ferroelectric nematic microrobots

Fumito Araoka, Antal I. Jákli, Péter Salamon, Marcell Tibor Máthé, Hiroya Nishikawa
article en
20 citations

Abstract

Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are fluids exhibiting spontaneous electric polarization, which is coupled to their long range orientational order. Due to their inherent property of making bound and surface charges, the free surface of ferroelectric nematics becomes unstable in electric fields. Here we show that ferroelectric liquid bridges between two electrode plates undergo distinct interfacial instabilities. In a specific range of frequency and voltage, the ferroelectric fluid bridges move as active interacting particles resembling living organisms like swarming insects, microbes or microrobots. The motion is accompanied by sound emission, as a consequence of piezoelectricity and electrostriction. Statistical analysis of the active particles reveals that the movement can be controlled by the applied voltage, which implies the possible application of the system in new types of microfluidic devices.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 15(1)
Eötvös Loránd University (HU), Kent State University (US), Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics (HU), HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics (HU), RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (JP)
National Science Foundation, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, RIKEN, Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovaciós Alap, Wigner Fizikai Kutatóközpont, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Division of Materials Research, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Strategic International Collaborative Research Program
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Micro and Nano Robotics
6.22
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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