Current BSAC Research Project

BPN894: Acoustically-Driven, Electrically-Controlled Microswimmer

Mauricio J. Bustamante
2021

Underwater self-powered micro-swimmers have several biomedical and environmental applications, such as drug delivery and pathogen elimination in water. Therefore, there is a need for propulsion mechanisms that operate well in the low Reynolds number regimen. We propose a mechanism that uses resonating water-air interfaces to generate underwater propulsion, and electrolysis as a control mechanism. This way, an external field can be used as a power source while control occurs at the device level. It is known that, when actuated by ultrasound waves near its resonance frequency, a bubble...