'Nano-Ants' Could Change the Future of Microfabrication

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By Eva Recinos2013-12-03 04:05:36 UTC

Inspired by the storied strength of the common ant, a team of scientists at New York University has engineered hematite beads to carry cargo ten times their size. The iron oxide beads may greatly influence the process of microfabrication, construction that takes place at the micro level.

The beads, which NewScientist aptly nicknamed nano-ants, sit in a hydrogen peroxide solution and are activated by light.

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Jérémie Palacci, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Soft Matter Research at NYU involved in the project, told Mashable that the project started as an exploration of how scientists could work with micro construction in a better way. As he explains, replicating the processes of construction at the micro level comes with challenges. For example, moving tiny parts requires some sort of tiny worker.

"Can we design tiny robots which will be able to wirelessly go somewhere and pick something up and take it somewhere?" said Palacci, referring to the team's initial question.

When the team turns on a light, the hematite bead begins to move within the hydrogen peroxide solution. Since hematite is an iron oxide, the team can use a magnetic field to direct it to another particle. Once it latches on to its cargo — ranging from materials like plastic and glass particles — it can move that cargo with it. When the light goes off, the bead releases its cargo. This process can then be repeated with new cargo.

This discovery could help further the creation of important products such as artificial muscles. Palacci explained that the hematite beads can be used with actin filaments (protein fibers found in cells) to create contractions, much like in a human muscle.

"The idea is to have microscopic artificial muscles that would be able to contract and extend so you can make a tiny, tiny muscle," said Palacci. On a larger scale, according to Discovery News, artificial muscles could help robots "work more the way natural muscles do, to allow for more delicate movements than mechanisms can achieve."

Palacci elaborates that the idea is to use these nano-ants as micro robots that would then build objects using micro-scale bricks. The robots could also help build meta materials, or artificial materials, which Palacci explains could contain unique qualities not found in nature. Such projects may not happen for some time, but this experiment could serve as the first step.

The full study has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society .

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Image: Flickr, Dennis Tang

Topics: haematite beads, micro fabrication, nano ants, nyu, Science, US & World