Magnetically propelled cilia power climbing soft robots and microfluidic pumps - Headline Science

Cilia are hair-like structures that cover some cells' surfaces, and their rhythmic motions move liquids around the cells or help propel them. Now, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers have replicated these asynchronous movements in artificial cilia placed between rotating magnets, which could produce agile soft robots for biomedical applications, as well as microfluidic pumps. ACS’ Headline Science shows how the wave-like motions of magnetically controlled cilia propel crawling and climbing microscale robots. “Metachronal μ-Cilia for On-Chip Integrated Pumps and Climbing Robots” - Shuaizhong Zhang, Ph.D. and Jaap den Toonder, Ph.D. - corresponding authors You might also like: Headline Science: ACS Spring 2021 Press Conferences - Archived: ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting & Expo Press Conferences: https