The effect of particle geometry on swimming in a shear-thinning fluid

Biological and artificial microscopic swimmers often find themselves immersed in fluids with

non-Newtonian rheological properties. In particular, many biological fluids such as blood and

mucus are shear-thinning. Recent studies have demonstrated how shear-thinning rheology can

substantially impact the propulsion performance in non-trivial manners. In this talk, we will

present results on the effect of particle geometry on the propulsion in a shear-thinning fluid. The

results could inform the design of microscopic swimmers with robust propulsion performance in

complex fluids with varying rheological properties.