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To overcome the reversible nature of low-Reynolds-number flow, a variety of biomimetic microrobotic propulsion schemes and devices capable of rapid transport have been developed. However, these approaches have been typically optimized for a specific function or environment and do not have the flexibility that many real organisms exhibit to thrive in complex microenvironments. Here, inspired by adaptable microbes and using a combination of experiment and simulation, we demonstrate that one-dimensional colloidal chains can fold into geometrically complex morphologies, including helices, plectonemes, lassos, and coils, and translate via multiple mechanisms that can be varied with applied magnetic field. With chains of multiblock asymmetry, the propulsion mode can be switched from bulk to surface-enabled, mimicking the swimming of microorganisms such as flagella-rotating bacteria and tail-whipping sperm and the surface-enabled motion of arching and stretching inchworms and sidewinding snakes. We also demonstrate that reconfigurability enables navigation through three-dimensional and narrow channels simulating capillary blood vessels. Our results show that flexible microdevices based on simple chains can transform both shape and motility under varying magnetic fields, a capability we expect will be particularly beneficial in complex in vivo microenvironments.
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Abstract A backbone engineering strategy is developed to tune the mechanical and electrical properties of conjugated polymer semiconductors. Four Donor–Acceptor (D–A) polymers, named PTDPPSe, PTDPPTT, PTDPPBT, and PTDPPTVT, are synthesized using selenophene (Se), thienothiophene (TT), bithiophene (BT), and thienylenevinylenethiophene (TVT) as the donors and siloxane side chain modified diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) as acceptor. The influences of the donor structure on the polymer energy level, film morphology, molecular stacking, carrier transport properties, and tensile properties are all examined. The films of PTDPPSe show the best stretchability with crack‐onset‐strain greater than 100%, but the worst electrical properties with a mobility of only 0.54 cm2 V−1 s−1. The replacement of the Se donor with larger conjugated donors, that is, TT, BT, and TVT, significantly improves the mobility of conjugated polymers but also leads to reduced stretchability. Remarkably, PTDPPBT exhibits moderate stretchability with crack‐onset‐strain ≈50% and excellent electrical properties. At 50% strain, it has a mobility of 2.37 cm2V−1 s−1parallel to the stretched direction, which is higher than the mobility of most stretchable conjugated polymers in this stretching state.
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Particles under a perpendicularly applied alternating current (AC) electric field assemble into complex structures and exhibit tunable locomotion. Although they possess very similar physical properties, silica particles form two‐dimensional (2D) close‐packed crystals in deionized water, whereas polystyrene (PS) spheres repel each other. Using nanoparticle tracers, it is shown that the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow around silica particles is contractile, whereas it is extensile around PS particles. The Stern‐layer conductivities of PS and silica spheres are further measured experimentally and used in theoretical models to calculate the EHD flow surrounding them, which matches well with experiments. Therefore, the incorporation of Stern‐layer conductivity resolves the puzzle that EHD flow surrounding a particle with moderate zeta potentials is extensile. The impacts of zeta potential, Stern‐layer conductivity, salt concentration, and particle size on the EHD flow are examined herein. It is found that particles with high zeta potential, small diameter, or immersed in low salt concentration solutions tend to have extensile EHD flow surrounding them because the enhanced surface conductivity in the double layer makes the particles effectively more polarizable than the solvent. Herein, it is further shown that asymmetric EHD motors made from PS and silica particles exhibit behaviors that are consistent with the model predictions.