Active self-assembly of colloidal machines with passive rotational parts via coordination of phoresis and osmosis

Abstract

The organization of microscopic objects into specific structures with movable parts is a prerequisite for building sophisticated micromachines with complex functions, as exemplified by their macroscopic counterparts. Here we report the self-assembly of active and passive colloids into micromachinery with passive rotational parts. Depending on the attachment of the active colloid to a substrate, which varies the degrees of free freedom of the assembly, colloidal machines with rich internal rotational dynamics are realized. Energetic analysis reveals that the energy efficiency increases with the degrees of freedom of the machine. The experimental results can be rationalized by the cooperation of phoretic interaction and osmotic flow encoded in the shape of the active colloid, which site-specifically binds and exerts a torque to passive colloids, supported by finite element calculations and mesoscale simulations. Our work offers a new design principle that utilizes nonequilibrium interfacial phenomena for spontaneous construction of multiple-component reconfigurable micromachinery.