Zhang Yuxuan, Jiang Shaojun, Hu Yanlei, Wu Tao, Zhang Yiyuan, Li Huizeng, Li An, Zhang Yachao, Wu Hao, Ding Yinlong, Li Erqiang, Li Jiawen, Wu Dong, Song Yanlin, Chu Jiaru
CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, Key Laboratory of Precision Scientific Instrumentation of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Department of Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
Department of Modern Mechanics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
Nano Lett. 2022 Apr 13;22(7):2923-2933. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c00100. Epub 2022 Mar 25.
Droplet manipulation is crucial for diverse applications ranging from bioassay to medical diagnosis. Current magnetic-field-driven manipulation strategies are mainly based on fixed or partially tunable structures, which limits their flexibility and versatility. Here, a reconfigurable magnetic liquid metal robot (MLMR) is proposed to address these challenges. Diverse droplet manipulation behaviors including steady transport, oscillatory transport, and release can be achieved by the MLMR, and their underlying physical mechanisms are revealed. Moreover, benefiting from the magnetic-field-induced active deformability and temperature-induced phase transition characteristics, its droplet-loading capacity and shape-locking/unlocking switching can be flexibly adjusted. Because of the fluidity-based adaptive deformability, MLMR can manipulate droplets in challenging confined environments. Significantly, MLMR can accomplish cooperative manipulation of multiple droplets efficiently through on-demand self-splitting and merging. The high-performance droplet manipulation using the reconfigurable and multifunctional MLMR unfolds new potential in microfluidics, biochemistry, and other interdisciplinary fields.
液滴操控对于从生物测定到医学诊断等各种应用至关重要。当前基于磁场驱动的操控策略主要基于固定或部分可调结构，这限制了它们的灵活性和通用性。在此，提出了一种可重构磁性液态金属机器人（MLMR）来应对这些挑战。MLMR可以实现包括稳定运输、振荡运输和释放在内的各种液滴操控行为，并揭示了其潜在的物理机制。此外，受益于磁场诱导的主动变形能力和温度诱导的相变特性，其液滴装载能力和形状锁定/解锁切换可以灵活调整。由于基于流动性的自适应变形能力，MLMR可以在具有挑战性的受限环境中操控液滴。值得注意的是，MLMR可以通过按需自分裂和合并有效地完成对多个液滴的协同操控。使用可重构和多功能MLMR进行的高性能液滴操控在微流体、生物化学和其他跨学科领域展现了新的潜力。
