TY  - JOUR
AU  - Yang, Mingcheng
AU  - Ripoll, Marisol
AU  - Chen, Ke
TI  - Catalytic microrotor driven by geometrical asymmetry
JO  - The journal of chemical physics
VL  - 142
IS  - 5
SN  - 1089-7690
CY  - Melville, NY
PB  - American Institute of Physics
M1  - FZJ-2015-01507
SP  - 054902 
PY  - 2015
AB  - An asymmetric gear with homogeneous surface properties is, here, presented as a prototype to fabricate catalytic microrotors. The driving torque arises from the diffusiophoretic effect induced by the concentration gradients generated by catalytic chemical reactions at the gear surface. This torque produces a spontaneous and unidirectional rotation of the asymmetric gear. By means of mesoscopic simulations, we prove and characterize this scenario. The gear rotational velocity is determined by the gear-solvent interactions, the gear geometry, the solvent viscosity, and the catalytic reaction ratio. Our work presents a simple way to design self-propelled microrotors, alternative to existing catalytic bi-component, or thermophoretic ones.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000349614200038
C6  - pmid:25662663
DO  - DOI:10.1063/1.4906823
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/188021
ER  -