New propulsion system for micro-objects

A new propulsion method for metallic micro- and nano-objects has been developed by French researchers from the Institute of Molecular Sciences. The process is based on the novel concept of bipolar electrochemistry: under the influence of an electric field, one end of a metallic object grows while the other end dissolves. Thanks to this permanent self-regeneration, objects can move at speeds of the order of a hundred micrometers per second. This work, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could find applications in fields ranging from nanomedicine to micromechanics.

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