Flow‐Active Liquid Marbles as Microreactors for Photocatalytic Micromotors

Self-propelled micromotors have shown promise for applications in environmental remediation, sensing, and biomedicine. However, assessing their performance in realistic, 3D microenvironments with dynamic boundaries and complex topography remains a key challenge. Achieving controlled motion and enhanced reactivity under such confinement is critical for both technological applications and fundamental studies on active matter. Here, the integration of light-driven micromotors with liquid marbles is presented, which are gas-permeable droplets encased by hydrophobic particles that act as dynamic, flow-active microreactors. By tuning the coverage of the particulate shell, partially covered liquid marbles are developed that exhibit robust evaporation-induced flows, increasing the average micromotor velocity by approximately threefold compared to sessile droplets. Under illumination, photocatalytic self-propulsion provides an additional velocity component and promotes micromotor dispersion. The combined circulation enhances mass transfer, guiding micromotor accumulation and transport while providing an optical transparent, soft-confinement platform for studying active particles and confined catalytic reactions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2025-09-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202505439
Primary Topic
Micro and Nano Robotics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Flow‐Active Liquid Marbles as Microreactors for Photocatalytic Micromotors

Majid Basharat, Katherine Villa, A. Martínez, Samuel Sánchez et al.
Small
Micro and Nano Robotics
article

Flow‐Active Liquid Marbles as Microreactors for Photocatalytic Micromotors

Majid Basharat, Katherine Villa, A. Martínez, Samuel Sánchez, Shuqin Chen
article en

Abstract

Self-propelled micromotors have shown promise for applications in environmental remediation, sensing, and biomedicine. However, assessing their performance in realistic, 3D microenvironments with dynamic boundaries and complex topography remains a key challenge. Achieving controlled motion and enhanced reactivity under such confinement is critical for both technological applications and fundamental studies on active matter. Here, the integration of light-driven micromotors with liquid marbles is presented, which are gas-permeable droplets encased by hydrophobic particles that act as dynamic, flow-active microreactors. By tuning the coverage of the particulate shell, partially covered liquid marbles are developed that exhibit robust evaporation-induced flows, increasing the average micromotor velocity by approximately threefold compared to sessile droplets. Under illumination, photocatalytic self-propulsion provides an additional velocity component and promotes micromotor dispersion. The combined circulation enhances mass transfer, guiding micromotor accumulation and transport while providing an optical transparent, soft-confinement platform for studying active particles and confined catalytic reactions.

SmallVol. 21(43)
Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES), Institut Català d'Investigació Química (ES), Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (ES), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (ES)
Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, European Commission, Generalitat de Catalunya, Institut Català d'Investigació Química, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 85%
Micro and Nano Robotics
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