Rolling, sliding, and trapping of driven particles in square obstacle lattices

Transport phenomena in complex and dynamic microscopic environments are fundamentally shaped by hydrodynamic interactions. In particular, microparticle transport in porous media is governed by the delicate interplay between particle-substrate friction and pressure forces. Here, we systematically investigate the motion of externally driven rotating magnetic microparticles near a substrate patterned with a square lattice of cylindrical obstacles, a model porous medium. Remarkably, we observe a reversal in the direction of particle translation as obstacle spacing decreases, highlighting a sensitive competition between shear-induced forward rolling and pressure-driven backward sliding due to flow-field symmetry breaking. These results demonstrate the crucial role of structured environments in determining microscale active particle transport, offering strategies for microfluidic design, targeted cargo delivery, and tunable active materials.