Micro propeller and micro forceps made of soft gels
Headed by Prof. Dr. Möller, Scientific Director of the DWI Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials and Chair of Textile Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry of the RWTH University, gel-structures have been developed in micro-size, which can move by light pulses. The motivation of this research is based on the adaption of the moving mechanism of natural micro-organisms to synthethic systems. These so-called micro floats are different from previous synthetic floats insofar as that their moving is independent from external conditions, like e.g. temperature changes. Prof. Dr. Möller’s team believes in a wide range of application areas like in medicine or in the field of material sciences. The aim of this scientific research is to accpomlish an independently movement flow of these micro robots by constant irradiation.
PhD student Hang Zang stands in front of a microscope, with wich he investigates tiny gel-structures, that are able to move independently in water. Picture source: Philipp Scheffler, DWI