Miniaturization effect of electroosmotic self-propulsive microswimmer powered by biofuel cell

Abstract

For future medical microrobotics, we have proposed the concept of the electroosmotic self-propulsive microswimmer powered by biofuel cell. According to the derived theoretical model, its self-propulsion velocity is inversely proportional to the length of the microswimmer, while it is proportional to the open circuit potential generated by the biofuel cell which does not depend on its size. Therefore, under conditions where those mechanisms work, it can be expected that the smaller its microswimmer size, the faster its self-propulsion velocity. Because of its remarkable feature, this concept is considered to be suitable as propulsion mechanisms for future medical microrobots to move inside the human body through the vascular system, including capillaries. We have already proved the mechanisms by observing the several 10 μm/s velocity of 100 μm prototypes fabricated by the optical photolithography using several photomasks and alignment steps. However, the standard photolithography was not suitable for further miniaturization of prototypes due to its insufficient resolution. In this research, we adopted femtosecond-laser 3D microlithography for multi-materials composing of the conductive polymer composites and nonconductive polymer composite and succeeded in fabricating 10 μm prototypes. Then we demonstrated more than 100 μm/s velocity of the prototype experimentally and proved its validity of the smaller and faster feature.