Experimental Investigation of Wall-Induced Translation of a Rotating Sphere in Shear-Thinning Fluids

Artificial microswimmers utilize interactions with boundaries for directed propulsion. Growing interest in using microswimmers in biomedical applications raises questions about how non-Newtonian rheology of bodily fluids affects their propulsion. Here, we present an experimental investigation on the motion of a rotating sphere near a wall in shear-thinning fluids. Our experimental results demonstrate intriguing propulsion behaviors of the sphere predicted by previous theoretical studies. We will discuss how various parameters in the system affect the wall-induced translational velocity of the rotating sphere.