Characterizing dynamic swimming behaviors of three-particle magnetic microswimmer near a solid surface

Abstract

Particle-based magnetically actuated microswimmers have potential to be used as microrobotic tools for biomedical applications. In this paper, we report the dynamic swimming behaviors of a magnetic microswimmer near a solid surface. This microswimmer consists of three paramagnetic microparticles and is actuated using a rotating magnetic field. The microswimmer exhibits simple rotation and propulsion with varied dynamic poses by tuning the input frequency of applied field. When the input frequency is less than 8 Hz, the microswimmer performs simple rotation and has no translational displacement. When subjected to higher input frequency (8–15 Hz), it performs propulsion, resulting in dynamic swimming behaviors. Moreover, our results indicate that higher swimming velocity is realized if the microswimmer swims near a solid surface because of the induced pressure difference in surrounding fluid of the microagent.