Researchers demonstrated how chains of self-assembling particles could serve as electrically activated muscles in tiny robots.
These microbots could be used for a number of functions in fields such as medicine and manufacturing, but there are several road blocks in the way of their development, the University of Michigan reported. The challenges include building the robots in the first place and making them mobile.
"We are inspired by ideas of microscopic robots," said Michael Solomon, a professor of chemical engineering. "They could work together and go places that have never been possible before."
The research team demonstrated that gold plating and an alternating electric field could encourage oblong particles to form chains that extend by about 36 percent.
"What's really important in the field of nanotechnology right now is not just assembling into structures, but assembling into structures that can change or shape-shift," said Sharon Glotzer, the Stuart W. Churchill Professor of Chemical Engineering, whose team developed computer simulations that helped explain how the chains grew and operated.
The key in this process is the addition of the electric field that allowed for the control of the particles. The researchers started with particles similar to what can be found in paint. They then stretched these particles into football shapes and coated each side with gold and found the gilded halves attracted each other in salty water.
When allowed to behave however they wanted the particles formed short chains of overlapping pairs, which averaged between 50 and 60 particles per chain. When exposed to an alternating electric field the chains were able to add particles "indefinitely"
"We want them to work like little muscles," Glotzer said. "You could imagine many of these fibers lining up with the field and producing locomotion by expanding and contracting."'
If the researchers are able to get the chains to swarm together they could lift loads and move objects around in a similar fashion to human muscles, even though they are 1,000 times weaker.
While these tiny muscled robots may be years away from development, the finding could help create electronics that rewire on demand in the less distant future. '
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