Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34362934›Full record

ArticleNature communications2021

Reconfigurable artificial microswimmers with internal feedback.

L Alvarez, M A Fernandez-Rodriguez, A Alegria, S Arrese-Igor, K Zhao, M Kröger, Lucio Isa

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
7.6field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 65 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Life-like behavior emerging in active and flexible microstructures.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  6. Dual-Laser Optical Tweezers for Photothermal Analysis of Hybrid Microgels.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Light-Triggered Inflation of Microdroplets.Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society · 2024
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Self-propelling colloids with finite state dynamics.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023
    Article
  16. Active matter in space.NPJ microgravity · 2022
    Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

L AlvarezLaboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. laura.alvarez-frances@mat.ethz.ch.ORCID 0000-0001-7018-7817
M A Fernandez-RodriguezLaboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-9540-1979
A AlegriaCentro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Materials Physics Center, San Sebastián, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-6125-8214
S Arrese-IgorCentro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Materials Physics Center, San Sebastián, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-9940-8780
K ZhaoLaboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
M KrögerPolymer Physics, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-1402-6714
Lucio IsaLaboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. lucio.isa@mat.ethz.ch.ORCID 0000-0001-6731-9620
ETH Zurich · CHMaterial Physics Center · ESUniversidad de Granada · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Self-propelling microparticles are often proposed as synthetic models for biological microswimmers, yet they lack the internally regulated adaptation of their biological counterparts. Conversely, adaptation can be encoded in larger-scale soft-robotic devices but remains elusive to transfer to the colloidal scale. Here, we create responsive microswimmers, powered by electro-hydrodynamic flows, which can adapt their motility via internal reconfiguration. Using sequential capillary assembly, we fabricate deterministic colloidal clusters comprising soft thermo-responsive microgels and light-absorbing particles. Light absorption induces preferential local heating and triggers the volume phase transition of the microgels, leading to an adaptation of the clusters' motility, which is orthogonal to their propulsion scheme. We rationalize this response via the coupling between self-propulsion and variations of particle shape and dielectric properties upon heating. Harnessing such coupling allows for strategies to achieve local dynamical control with simple illumination patterns, revealing exciting opportunities for developing tactic active materials.

Identifiers

PMID34362934
PMCPMC8346629
OpenAlexW3086650889

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.