The generation of fluid flows by autophoretic microswimmers has been proposed as a mechanism to enhance mass transport and mixing at the micro- and nanoscale. Here, we experimentally investigate the ability of model 2-D "active baths" of photocatalytic silica-titania Janus microspheres to enhance the diffusivity of tracer particles at different microswimmer densities below the onset of collective behaviour. Inspired by the similarities between our experimental findings and previous results for biological microorganisms, we then model our Janus microswimmers using a general squirmer framework, specifically treating them as neutral squirmers. The numerical simulations faithfully capture our observations, offer an insight into the microscopic mechanism underpinning tracer transport, and allow us to expand the parameter space beyond our experimental system. We find strong evidence that near-field interactions dominate enhancements in tracer diffusivity in active Janus baths, leading to the identification of an operating window for enhanced tracer transport by chemical microswimmers based on scaling arguments. Based on this argumentation, we suggest that for many chemically active colloidal systems, hydrodynamics alone is likely to be insufficient to induce appreciable mixing of passive components with large diffusion coefficients.
Patterned Substrates Unlock Self-Electrophoretic Phenomenon in Active Janus Microswimmers
Istituto di BioRobotica-Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna（机器人研究所圣安娜高等学院）；Wageningen University & Research（瓦赫宁根大学与研究）；Center for Materials Interfaces, Electron Crystallography, Italian Institute of Technology（意大利理工学院材料界面与电子晶体学中心）
