# gst: assembling colloidal spheres into rods of several lengths to walk above a pattern.

<< Detailed control over the motion of colloidal particles is relevant in many applications in colloidal science such as lab-on-a-chip devices. Here, (AA) use an external magnetic field to assemble paramagnetic colloidal spheres into colloidal rods of several lengths. The rods reside above a square magnetic pattern and are transported via modulation of the direction of the external magnetic field. >>

<< The rods behave like bipeds walking above the pattern. Depending on their length, the bipeds perform topologically distinct classes of protected walks. >>

<< Using such loops, (they) induce the collision of reactant bipeds, their polymerization addition reaction to larger bipeds, the separation of product bipeds from the educts, the sorting of different product bipeds, and also the parallel writing of a word consisting of several letters. >>

Mahla Mirzaee-Kakhki, Adrian Ernst, et al. Simultaneous polydirectional transport of colloidal bipeds. Nat Commun 11, 4670. doi: 10.1038/ s41467-020-18467-9. Sep 16, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18467-9

Controlled dynamics of colloidal rods. 

Bayreuth University. Sep 16, 2020. 

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-dynamics-colloidal-rods.html