Artificial flexible sperm-like nanorobot based on self-assembly and its bidirectional propulsion in precessing magnetic fields

Sperm cells can move at a high speed in biofluids based on the flexible flagella, which inspire novel flagellar micro-/nanorobots to be designed. Despite progress in fabricating sperm-type robots at micro scale, mass fabrication of vivid sperm-like nanorobots with flagellar flexibility is still challenging. In this work, a facile and efficient strategy is proposed to produce flexible sperm-like nanorobots with self-assembled head-to-tail structure, and its bidirectional propulsion property was studied in detail. The nanorobots were composed of a superparamagnetic head and a flexible Au/PPy flagellum, which were covalently linked via biotin-streptavidin bonding with a high yield. Under precessing magnetic fields, the head drove the flexible tail to rotate and generated undulatory bending waves propagating along the body. Bidirectional locomotion was investigated, and moving velocity as well as direction varied with the actuating conditions (field strength, frequency, direction) and the nanorobot’s structure (tail length). Effective flagellar propulsion was observed near the substrate and high velocities were attained to move back and forth without U-turn. Typical modelling based on elastohydrodynamics and undulatory wave propagation were utilized for propulsion analysis. This research presents novel artificial flexible sperm-like nanorobots with delicate self-assembled head-to-tail structures and remarkable bidirectional locomotion performances, indicating significant potentials for nanorobotic design and future biomedical application.