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Surface electrochemical actuators for micron-scale fluid pumping and autonomous swimming

ORAL

Abstract

Recently, our group demonstrated a new class of electronic actuators called surface electrochemical actuators (SEAs). They use surface adsorption on a nanometer-thick cantilever to produce micron-scale radii of curvature with only fractions of a volt for actuation. Here we use SEAs to mechanically pump fluid at the micron-scale in several different geometries, both in the rigid panel (Purcell) and flexible (flagella) limits. We further discuss ongoing work to integrate SEAs with photovoltaics to create optically powered swimmers. Our ultimate goal is to create fully autonomous swimming microrobots with onboard electronics that can sense and respond to their environment in complex ways, yet are too small to be resolved by the naked eye.

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Presenters

  • Michael Reynolds

    Cornell University

Authors

  • Michael Reynolds

    Cornell University

  • Alejandro Cortese

    Cornell University

  • Qingkun Liu

    Cornell University

  • Wei Wang

    Cornell University

  • Michael Cao

    Cornell University, Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University

  • David Anthony Muller

    Cornell University, School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

  • Marc Miskin

    University of Pennsylvania

  • Itai Cohen

    Cornell University, Physics, Cornell University, Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University

  • Paul L McEuen

    Cornell University