Ferrofluid Droplets as Liquid Microrobots with Multiple Deformabilities

Developing microrobots with multiple deformabilities has become extremely challenging due to the lack of materials that are soft enough at the microscale level and the inability to be reconfigured after fabrication. In this study, it is aimed to prove that liquid microrobots composed of ferrofluid droplets are inherently deformable and they can be controlled, individually or in aggregate, with multiple programmable deformabilities. For example, the liquid-microrobot monomer (LRM) can pass through narrow channels via elongation and achieve scaling via splitting and coalescence. LRMs can also reassemble into various kinds of functional liquid-robot aggregates, such as microsticks, micropies, microtrains, microkayaks, and microrollingpins. Thus, they can respond to multi-terrain surfaces or perform various complex tasks. Moreover, the authors' physics-based theoretical model demonstrates dynamic self-assembly and group behavior of a multiple LRM system, which is conducive to investigating the mechanisms behind it. These ferrofluid droplet robots provide novel solutions for some potential applications, such as untethered micromanipulation and targeted cargo delivery.