Dynamics of colloids interacting with membranes driven by activity - Antonio Stocco (ICS, Strasbourg)

Active Janus particles consume chemical fuels to produce self-propulsion by creating hydrodynamic flows as “pusher” or “puller” microswimmers, e.g. bacteria or algae. Chemical reactions occurring on the active side of the particle and the associated hydrodynamics represent additional interactions to be considered when active particles interact with each other or with other objects. Here, I will present some experimental results describing the dynamics of active colloids interacting with giant unilamellar vesicles made of lipid bilayers [1]. By tuning the membrane tension and the particle-membrane interaction, we were able to observe emerging dynamics such as active vesicle transport [2], particle orbital motion around the vesicle [1], and autonomous particle engulfment by the vesicle membrane [3].

[1] V Sharma, E Azar, AP Schroder, CM Marques, A Stocco. Active colloids orbiting giant vesicles, Soft Matter (2021).

[2] V Sharma, CM Marques, A Stocco. Driven Engulfment of Janus Particles by Giant Vesicles in and out of thermal equilibrium, Nanomaterials (2022).

[3] F Fessler, M Wittmann, J Simmchen, A Stocco. Dynamics of Active Colloid Engulfment by Giant Lipid Vesicles, submitted to Soft Matter (2024).

Contact: Samantha Micciulla