Recently, scientists have discovered that they can create artificial “materials” or “swimmers” using just oil and water.
By combining water with a few drops of oil to create a solution similar to a detergent, this represents a new method for producing miniature materials that operate based on the principles of oscillation and energy storage.
The oil droplets utilize temperature changes in their surroundings to store energy. When cooled, these droplets release slender filaments resembling a “tail” into the environment. The frictional force generated between these “tails” and the surrounding liquid propels the oil droplets, causing them to move.
These oil droplets can “recharge” multiple times.
Conversely, when heated, these oil droplets “retract” their tails to return to their original state, simultaneously absorbing heat from the environment to recharge their energy. Researchers indicate that these oil droplets can “recharge” multiple times and can move for up to 12 minutes on each charge.
According to Dr. Stoyan Smoukov, a researcher in Chemical Engineering at Queen Mary University of London: “In biology, creating the simplest artificial cell requires more than 470 genes. However, based on this new discovery, we can create some new materials with simpler components and lower costs. These materials can function, change shape, and move like a living organism.”
There are many types of artificial materials coexisting, but their movement depends on chemical reactions, fluids, or physical forces such as magnetic or electric fields.
One advantage of these new materials is their small size, comparable to that of a red blood cell. They can self-assemble and move without the need for external forces. These new types of materials are harmless to other living organisms.
Scientists hope to use them to study fundamental interactions between living organisms such as bacteria and algae by mixing them into groups of living organisms and observing the interactions between them. This could help us build a clearer picture of how microorganisms communicate with each other.
