Issue 44, 2023

Selecting active matter according to motility in an acoustofluidic setup: self-propelled particles and sperm cells

Abstract

Active systems – including sperm cells, living organisms like bacteria, fish, birds, or active soft matter systems like synthetic “microswimmers” – are characterized by motility, i.e., the ability to propel using their own “engine”. Motility is the key feature that distinguishes active systems from passive or externally driven systems. In a large ensemble, motility of individual species can vary in a wide range. Selecting active species according to their motility represents an exciting and challenging problem. We propose a new method for selecting active species based on their motility using an acoustofluidic setup where highly motile species escape from the acoustic trap. This is demonstrated in simulations and in experiments with self-propelled Janus particles and human sperm. The immediate application of this method is selecting highly motile sperm for medically assisted reproduction (MAR). Due to the tunable acoustic trap, the proposed method is more flexible than the existing passive microfluidic methods. The proposed selection method based on motility can also be applied to other active systems that require selecting highly motile species or removing immotile species.

Graphical abstract: Selecting active matter according to motility in an acoustofluidic setup: self-propelled particles and sperm cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Sep 2023
Accepted
28 Oct 2023
First published
30 Oct 2023

Soft Matter, 2023,19, 8635-8648

Author version available

Selecting active matter according to motility in an acoustofluidic setup: self-propelled particles and sperm cells

V. R. Misko, L. Baraban, D. Makarov, T. Huang, P. Gelin, I. Mateizel, K. Wouters, N. De Munck, F. Nori and W. De Malsche, Soft Matter, 2023, 19, 8635 DOI: 10.1039/D3SM01214J

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