"How synthetic microswimmers move, turn, flip, and spread" Professor Daisuke Takagi

Microscopic robots are envisioned to perform medical and technological tasks, but predicting their motion and dispersion is challenging. I will show how chemically propelled bimetallic rods move in large circles and flip over spontaneously on a surface. In a suspension of solid spheres, the rods orbit closely around the spheres. These movements can be understood using simplified analytical models. They demonstrate that confining boundaries have major effects on the long-term dispersion of swimmers. This has broad implications
ranging from the applications of synthetic suspensions and devices to the study of cell adhesion and dispersion.

Professor Daisuke Takagi's research is motivated by various geophysical, engineering, and biological problems featuring fluid flow. Past projects have focused on modeling the dynamics of synthetic microswimmers propelled by chemical fuel, the flow of lava on volcanoes, and the peristaltic pumping of fluids through flexible tubes. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.