(647c) Encoding Life-like Multimodal Locomotion in Photo-Responsive Microstructures

Living systems express propulsion at the microscale mostly due to non-reciprocal motions. At low Reynolds number (drag-dominated regime), motility is achieved only when displaying non-reciprocal shape transformations.¹ Likewise, terrestrial propulsion escapes friction forces by exploiting non-reciprocal movements, resulting in directional motility (e.g., metachronal wave).² While non-reciprocal motions are well established in microorganisms (e.g., cilia/flagella in bacteria, legs in millipedes), artificial micro walkers or swimmers are currently facing multiple challenges to achieve such deformations and, therefore, motility. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), not only present the structural integrity but also can be polymerized with well-defined molecular alignments to encode complex, macroscopic motions in a non-reciprocal fashion, as observed in biological systems.³ The latter is a crucial feature as it allows for inter-media life-like locomotion at the microscale in synthetic matter, encompassing both aquatic and terrestrial environments. By using photo-responsive mesogens in bioinspired, single-material LCE microstructures, we investigate the emergence of multimodal locomotion in synthetic matter and in different media. We believe that the combination of non-reciprocal behavior and external control will help advance the creation of soft robotics and intelligent materials that perform life-like motions under dissipative conditions.

References

[1] E. Lauga, Soft Matter, 7, 3060 (2014)

[2] H. Gu, Q. Boehler, H. Cui, et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 2637 (2020)

[3] Li, S., Lerch, M. M., Waters, J. T., et al. Nature, 605, 76 (2022)