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    Self-Solidifying Active Droplets Showing Memory-Induced Chirality

    Year: 2023

    Journal: Advanced Science, Volume 10, 2023, page 2300866

    Authors: Feng, Kai; Ureña Marcos, José Carlos; Mukhopadhyay, Aritra K.; Niu, Ran; Zhao, Qiang; Qu, Jinping; Liebchen, Benno

    Keywords: droplet swimmer; Marangoni flow; memory-induced chirality; polyelectrolyte; self-solidifying

    Most synthetic microswimmers do not reach the autonomy of their biological counterparts in terms of energy supply and diversity of motions. Here, this work reports the first all-aqueous droplet swimmer powered by self-generated polyelectrolyte gradients, which shows memory-induced chirality while self-solidifying. An aqueous solution of surface tension–lowering polyelectrolytes self-solidifies on the surface of acidic water, during which polyelectrolytes are gradually emitted into the surrounding water and induce linear self-propulsion via spontaneous symmetry breaking. The low diffusion coefficient of the polyelectrolytes leads to long-lived chemical trails which cause memory effects that drive a transition from linear to chiral motion without requiring any imposed symmetry breaking. The droplet swimmer is capable of highly efficient removal (up to 85%) of uranium from aqueous solutions within 90 min, benefiting from self-propulsion and flow-induced mixing. These results provide a route to fueling self-propelled agents which can autonomously perform chiral motion and collect toxins.
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