Jet-driven viscous locomotion of confined thermoresponsive microgels

Abstract

We consider the dynamics of micro-sized, asymmetrically coated thermoresponsive hydrogel ribbons (microgels) under periodic heating and cooling in the confined space between two planar surfaces. As the result of the temperature changes, the volume and, thus, the shape of the slender microgel change, which leads to repeated cycles of bending and elastic relaxation, and to net locomotion. Small devices designed for biomimetic locomotion need to exploit flows that are not symmetric in time (non-reciprocal) to escape the constraints of the scallop theorem and undergo net motion. Unlike other biological slender swimmers, the non-reciprocal bending of the gel centerline is not sufficient here to explain for the overall swimming motion. We show instead that the swimming of the gel results from the flux of water periodically emanating from (or entering) the gel itself due to its shrinking (or swelling). The associated flows induce viscous stresses that lead to a net propulsive force on the gel. We derive a theoretical model for this hypothesis of jet-driven propulsion, which leads to excellent agreement with our experiments.

The swelling and shrinking of spherical thermo-responsive hydrogels

“…Some recent studies have shown that responsive hydrogels are able to generate substantial bulk fluid motions, such as cyclic swelling of bilayer ribbons causing net swimming (Tanasijević et al. 2022), but in this reported case, this was possible because of some significant asymmetry in the material composition of the particle due to impermeable sections of the boundary, which caused shape change and asymmetric fluid flow across the boundary.…”