エタノールで駆動するマイクロロボット

抄録

This paper describes the motion change of ethanol driven micro-robots by the stimuli-responsive hydrogel. The main components of micro-robot are thermal responsive hydrogel, silicone tube, and PDMS. The micro-robots are soaked in the ethanol solution, then the ethanol is filled in the hydrogel. The micro-robots can propel by the Marangoni effect caused by ethanol diffusion. The motion of the micro-robot is depending on the diffusion speed of ethanol. The diffusion speed of ethanol increase by shrinking of the stimuli-responsive hydrogel, thus the micro-robots can change the motion responding to the surrounding environment. At room temperature (25°C), the micro-robots exhibit the pulsatile motion. On the other hand, the micro-robots continuously propel at high temperatures (50°C). We believe that our proposed ethanol driven micro-robot could be applied to mimicking the behavior of micro-organism, elucidation of the principle of ordered motion, and self-organization.