Design and Control of the Micromotor Swarm Toward Smart Applications

Abstract

Micro‐ and nanomotors are micro‐ and nanostructures capable of autonomous movement and collective behavior, mimicking natural counterparts. This review aims to give a recent perspective on micro‐ and nanomotors driven by intelligent mechanisms in action under the cooperative effect of the swarm of micromotors as their distinctive feature. Different energy sources and the factors that can influence cooperative micromotor motion are comprehensively covered, along with the underlying phenomena and related applications. The motion ability of micro/nanomotors, along with capabilities to reach a targeted destination, holds considerable promise to address remaining challenges in the environmental and biomedical fields.

Keywords

• chemotaxis
• cooperative motion
• magnetotaxis
• micromotor swarming
• phototaxis