Prof Ramin Golestanian

Abstract:

Since their discovery in 2004, there has been remarkable progress in research on nanomotors, from the elucidation of different propulsion mechanisms to the study of their collective behaviour, culminating in investigations into their applications in biomedicine and environmental remediation. This Perspective reviews this evolution in nanomotor research and discusses the key challenges ahead, including the need for developing advanced characterization techniques, precise motion control, materials innovation, theory and modelling, and translationally feasible in vivo biomedical applications. These challenges highlight the current limitations of synthetic nanomotors and point to exciting future opportunities to revolutionize theranostics and create ‘living’ hybrid systems. We introduce the concept of ‘systems materials’ to encompass interacting functional materials across length scales from molecular to macro. Thus, this Perspective aims to inspire future generations of researchers to advance both fundamental understanding and practical breakthroughs, thereby engineering a paradigm shift in nanomotor research.

Abstract:

A realistic description of active particles should include interactions with the medium, commonly a momentum-conserving simple fluid, in which they are suspended. In this work, we consider a multispecies suspension of self-diffusiophoretic Janus colloids interacting via chemical and hydrodynamic fields. Through a systematic coarse-graining of the microscopic dynamics, we calculate the multicomponent contribution to the hydrodynamic stress tensor of the incompressible Stokesian fluid in which the particles are immersed. For a single species, we find that the strength of the stress produced by the gradients of the number density field is determined by the particles' self-propulsion and chemotactic alignment, and can be tuned to be either contractile or extensile. For a multispecies system, we unveil how different forms of activity modify the stress tensor and how it can acquire nonreciprocal couplings due to phoretic effects. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Abstract:

The measurement of stresses and forces at the tissue level has proven to be an indispensable tool for the understanding of complex biological phenomena such as cancer invasion, embryo development, or wound healing. One of the most versatile tools for force inference at the cell and tissue level are elastic force sensors, whose biocompatibility and tunable material properties make them suitable for many different experimental scenarios. The evaluation of those forces, however, is still a bottleneck due to the numerical methods seen in the literature until now, which are usually slow and render low experimental yield. Here, we present BeadBuddy, a ready-to-use platform for the evaluation of deformation and stresses from fluorescently labeled sensors within seconds. The strengths of BeadBuddy lie in the precomputed analytical solutions of the elastic problem, the abstraction of data into spherical harmonics, and a simple user interface that creates a smooth workflow for force inference.

Abstract:

Inspired by Richard Feynman's 1959 lecture and the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, the field of micro/nanorobots has evolved from science fiction to reality, with significant advancements in biomedical and environmental applications. Despite the rapid progress, the deployment of functional micro/nanorobots remains limited. This review of the technology roadmap identifies key challenges hindering their widespread use, focusing on propulsion mechanisms, fundamental theoretical aspects, collective behavior, material design, and embodied intelligence. We explore the current state of micro/nanorobot technology, with an emphasis on applications in biomedicine, environmental remediation, analytical sensing, and other industrial technological aspects. Additionally, we analyze issues related to scaling up production, commercialization, and regulatory frameworks that are crucial for transitioning from research to practical applications. We also emphasize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to address both technical and nontechnical challenges, such as sustainability, ethics, and business considerations. Finally, we propose a roadmap for future research to accelerate the development of micro/nanorobots, positioning them as essential tools for addressing grand challenges and enhancing the quality of life.

Abstract:

The dynamics of many nanoscale biological and synthetic systems such as enzymes and molecular motors are activated by thermal noise, and driven out-of-equilibrium by local energy dissipation. Because the energies dissipated in these systems are comparable to the thermal energy, one would generally expect their dynamics to be highly stochastic. Here, by studying a thermodynamically-consistent model of two coupled noise-activated oscillators, we show that this is not always the case. Thanks to a novel phenomenon that we term topological phase locking (TPL), the coupled dynamics become quasi-deterministic, resulting in a greatly enhanced average speed of the oscillators. TPL is characterized by the emergence of a band of periodic orbits that form a torus knot in phase space, along which the two oscillators advance in rational multiples of each other. The effectively conservative dynamics along this band coexists with the basin of attraction of the dissipative fixed point. We further show that TPL arises as a result of a complex, infinite hierarchy of global bifurcations. Our results have implications for understanding the dynamics of a wide range of systems, from biological enzymes and molecular motors to engineered nanoscale electronic, optical, or mechanical oscillators.