Issue 17, 2013

Out of the cleanroom, self-assembled magnetic artificial cilia

Abstract

Micro-sized hair-like structures, such as cilia, are abundant in nature and have various functionalities. Many efforts have been made to mimic the fluid pumping function of cilia, but most of the fabrication processes for these “artificial cilia” are tedious and expensive, hindering their practical application. In this paper a cost-effective in situ fabrication technique for artificial cilia is demonstrated. The cilia are constructed by self-assembly of micron sized magnetic beads and encapsulated with soft polymer coatings. Actuation of the cilia induces an effective fluid flow, and the cilia lengths and distribution can be adjusted by varying the magnetic bead concentration and fabrication parameters.

Graphical abstract: Out of the cleanroom, self-assembled magnetic artificial cilia

Supplementary files

Additions and corrections

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Apr 2013
Accepted
11 Jun 2013
First published
12 Jun 2013
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2013,13, 3360-3366

Out of the cleanroom, self-assembled magnetic artificial cilia

Y. Wang, Y. Gao, H. Wyss, P. Anderson and J. den Toonder, Lab Chip, 2013, 13, 3360 DOI: 10.1039/C3LC50458A

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