Reprogrammable Magnetically Actuated Self‐Assembled Cilia Array

Abstract

Motile cilia move in an asymmetric pattern and implement a metachronal wave (MCW) to facilitate fluid movement in a viscous environment. Studies have been conducted to mimic MCW movement of motile cilia, but the fabrication process is too complicating or there are difficulties in accurately mimicking the shape of the cilia. To overcome these limitations, a self‐assembly method is introduced to fabricate a reprogrammable magnetically actuated self‐assembled (RMS) cilia array that can be reprogrammed by changing the magnetization direction through additional magnetization. Using the RMS cilia array, a unilateral cilia array (UCA) channel and a bilateral cilia array (BCA) channel are constructed, and the motion and fluid flow of the RMS cilia array are analyzed by applying different magnetic fields (strike magnetic field and rotating magnetic field). When a rotating magnetic field is applied to the UCA channel, a distinct MCW appears. In the BCA channel test, fluid pumping is observed when a strike magnetic field is applied, whereas fluid mixing is observed when a rotating magnetic field is applied. Based on these results, it is expected that the proposed RMS cilia array and magnetic field actuation can be applied to lab‐on‐a‐chip or microfluidic channels for fluid mixing and pumping.

Keywords

• biomimetics
• fluidic channel
• magnetic actuators
• metachronal wave
• reprogrammable artificial cilia