Frontiers in Life Science

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Propulsion of an artificial nanoswimmer: a

comprehensive review

Shivani Nain & N.N. Sharma

To cite this article: Shivani Nain & N.N. Sharma (2015) Propulsion of an artificial nanoswimmer: a
comprehensive review, Frontiers in Life Science, 8:1, 2-17, DOI: 10.1080/21553769.2014.962103

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21553769.2014.962103

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Frontiers in Life Science, 2015
Vol. 8, No. 1, 217, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21553769.2014.962103

Propulsion of an artificial nanoswimmer: a comprehensive review

Shivani Nain and N.N. Sharma
Mechanical Engineering Department, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani-333031, India
(Received 8 March 2014; accepted 1 September 2014 )

Locomotion at micro and nano scales is a challenge and has drawn attention for over six decades. Inspired by nature, studies
have mimicked nanoswimming organisms, which use rotating or beating agella for locomotion. This mode of propulsion,
also known as agellar propulsion, has been explored extensively in the literature. However, chemical and magnetic methods
have gained interest in the last decade owing to advantages including high thrust force and wireless control. The review
summarizes chronologically the various propulsion mechanisms for moving a nanoswimmer using chemical fuel, magnetic
elds, ultrasonic pulses and thrust force generated by bacteria in the presence of external stimuli including laser light, and
thermal and chemical gradients.
Keywords: nanoswimmer; propulsion; magneto-tactic bacteria; chemical actuation

Introduction the gastrointestinal tract, or brain matter (Peyer et al.

Nanotechnology enables us to create devices or machines
of nanometer size range which can locomote themselves
autonomously. Production of autonomous machines like
nanorobots requires joint intellectual eorts from chemists,
biologists, physicists, pharmacists and engineers. A major
challenge for nanorobot design is locomotion, and various
nanoswimming mechanisms and energy resources have
been tested. This is a review of techniques for propulsion
of articial nanoswimmers.
In a quest to mimic nature, many studies have been
carried out on articial nanoswimmers to imitate the
propulsion of agellated bacteria (Taylor 1951; Hancock
1953; Machin 1958; Leifson 1960; Keller & Rubinow
1976; Life at Low Reynolds Number 1977; Freitas 2005;
Ummat et al. 2005; Lauga & Powers 2009; Rathore &
Sharma 2010; Deepak et al. 2011; Rathore et al. 2012;
Kotesa et al. 2013). The rst published discussion about in
vivo locomotion of a swimming nanorobot (Freitas 1999)
addressed many issues, including movement through the
blood stream, walking, traversing and swimming through
various tissues and membranes, identication of defec-
tive cells, and swimming medical robots reaching a target
area inside the human body. Advancements in nanotech-
nology have enabled us to realize machines and devices
which are 1/100th times smaller than the width of human
hair (Sanni et al. 2008). The nanoswimmer is one such
small machine which is required to navigate along a pre-
dened path in uids, e.g. water, blood, or urine, to
more complex environments, such as cerebrospinal uids,
2013a) and for environment monitoring (Mishra 2012).
Nanoswimmers have potential in various biomedical appli-
cations, e.g. treatment of brain tumors (Sanap Gajanan
et al. 2011), Alzheimers disease (Sharma 2013), plaque
(Shinob & College 2012), coronary artery disease (Suraj
& Reddy 2011), gout and kidney stones (Prajapati et al.
2012), angioplasty surgery (Maran & Murugan), heart
transplantation (Merina 2010), nano-dentistry to ensure
oral health by regulation over the oral anesthesia, tooth
repair and repositioning (Freitas Jr 2000; Jalaluddin & Raju
2012), and targeted drug delivery, using pharmacytes of 1
2 m size to carry a payload to the specied location inside
the human body to treat cancerous cells (Freitas 2006; Cav-
alcanti, Shirinzadeh, Hogg, et al. 2007a; Lenaghan et al.
2013).
Propulsion techniques such as chemical, magnetic and
thrust force generated by the movement of natural bacteria
(Martel 2012) have been used for locomotion of arti-
cial nanoswimmers. Dierent fuel systems can be used
to generate power to propel articial nanoswimmers, e.g.
hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a concentra-
tion gradient of dierent ionic species, and an interfacial
gradient due to asymmetrical catalytic reactions (Ebbens
& Howse 2010). The present review compiles a chrono-
logical list of current medical nanorobots (Freitas 1999,
2005), design issues (Ummat et al. 2005), challenges
and solutions (Sharma & Mittal 2008; Ebbens & Howse
2010; Wang & Gao 2012) related to propulsion, powering,
control, and transport of payload to the specic target.

*Corresponding author. Email: nitinipun@gmail.com

2014 Taylor & Francis

 Frontiers in Life Science 3

In 2, chemical propulsion mechanisms based on cat- Magnetic propulsion of nanoswimmers

alytic decomposition of fuel are reported. In 3, propulsion Magnetic propulsion is another potential means of
of nanoswimmers for in vivo and in vitro applications nanoswimmer locomotion, and the most successful to
under applied magnetic elds is discussed. In 4, manip- date because it is a non-invasive method and oers easy
ulation of a payload, exploiting chemotaxis and magneto- control and navigation of the targeted nanoswimmer. A
taxis in bacterial agella is presented. Propulsion schemes nanoswimmer was constructed of ferromagnetic material
based on external stimuli, electro kinetics, ultrasonic and and maneuvered using magnetic elds (Mathieu et al.
thermal methods are discussed in 5. 2006; Martel et al. 2007). Magnetic propulsion has been
attempted for both micro and macro sized objects under a
Chemical propulsion of nanoswimmers clinical MRI (Medical Resonance Imaging) system (Honda
et al. 1996; Dreyfus et al. 2005; Pawashe et al. 2009).
Chemical propulsion has been studied extensively in the
Both Helmholtz coils (Bell et al. 2007; Vollmers et al.
last decade due to its advantages including higher thrust
2008; Peyer et al. 2012, 2013a, 2013b) and electromag-
force and ease of operation. Chemical propulsion is based
netic coils (Zhang et al. 2009a; Zhou et al. 2011; Temel
on the thrust generated when two chemical species react.
et al. 2012, 2013) have been used to generate magnetic
There are three types of chemical species which are
elds for propulsion of ferromagnetic particles. Magnetic
used as propellant, namely solid, liquid and gas. Of
nanoparticles for tracking and wireless controlled trans-
the three, liquid propellant has been used most widely
port of micro-objects have been demonstrated extensively
as a means of propulsion for articial nanoswimmers
in viscous environments, e.g. silicon oil (Honda et al.
as it lasts for a longer time than the other chemical
1996; Dreyfus et al. 2005; Yesin et al. 2006; Zhou et al.
propellants.
2011; Tottori et al. 2012), water (Honda et al. 1996;
The presence of foreign bodies like bacteria triggers the
Fountain et al. 2010; Vonthron et al. 2011; Zhou et al.
immune system to produce hydrogen peroxide (Stone &
2011), paran oil (Bell et al. 2007), dierent concen-
Yang 2006). Thus, hydrogen peroxide solution has been
trations of methyl cellulose in water (Peyer et al. 2012,
used as fuel for propulsion of nanoswimmers. Some inno-
2013a, 2013b), organic media (N,N-dimethylformamide,
vative work was based on the bubble propulsion mecha-
DMF), and glycerol (Temel et al. 2012, 2013) to mimic the
nism, using platinum as a catalyst (Ismagilov et al. 2002;
human body environment. A speed of ferromagnetic beads
Kline et al. 2005; Dhar et al. 2006; Paxton et al. 2006;
of approximately 8.4311.1 cm s1 in the carotid artery
Howse et al. 2007; Gibbs & Zhao 2009; Mallouk & Sen
of living swine was detected using clinical MRI; this is
2009; Manesh et al. 2010a, 2010b; Sanchez et al. 2010a,
the highest nanoswimmer speed reported to date (Martel
2010b, 2011; Valadares et al. 2010; Gao et al. 2011a;
et al. 2007). Biocompatible thermo-responsive (Tabatabaei
Solovev et al. 2012). Nanoswimmer propulsion has also
et al. 2010, 2011) and pH responsive (Chanu et al. 2007)
been observed in water (Gao et al. 2012), bromine solution
polymer/hydro-gels have been used to make nanoswim-
(Liu & Sen 2011), diluted human serum H2 SO4 and HCl
mers carrying a payload to release a drug at a specic site.
(Loget & Kuhn 2011). Nanoswimmers have mostly been
For studying nanoswimmer propulsion MRI has proven to
fabricated from gold (Kline et al. 2005; Dhar et al. 2006;
be better than other imaging modalities, e.g. X-ray, ultra-
Paxton et al. 2006; Laocharoensuk et al. 2008; Mallouk
sound, infrared imaging (IR) and radioactive dye, because
& Sen 2009; Sanchez et al. 2010b; Manesh et al. 2010a;
it can provide information of various internal organs such
Balasubramanian et al. 2011) because it is biocompatible
as brain, chest, blood vessels, abdomen, bones, spine and
and can be functionalized easily by using biological mate-
structure of heart and does not contain any ionizing radia-
rial. Ismagilov et al. (2002) fabricated nanoswimmers and
tion. Achievements in the eld of capturing and transport
achieved a maximum velocity of approximately 12 cm
of micro-objects using induced magnetic elds are shown
s1 in hydrogen peroxide solution. According to medical
chronologically in Table 2.
management guidelines (Hydrogen Peroxide, available at
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MHMI/mmg174.pdf), an exces-
sive amount of H2 O2 leads to side eects. The permissible
concentration of peroxides does not generate the necessary Bacteria-based propulsion of nanoswimmers
thrust force to propel a nanoswimmer. Experiments con- Besides the attempts to fabricate articial nanoswimmer,
ducted at lower concentrations of hydrogen peroxide solu- researchers have also worked upon manipulation, pickup
tion (up to 0.2%; Sanchez et al. 2011) lead to a decrease and transport of micro-objects by utilizing the thrust force
in the speed of the nanoswimmers. It was attempted to of living prokaryotic bacteria and eukaryotic cell such
increase eciency or speed by adding surfactant to the as sperm cell. Bacterial motion depends on concentration
solution (Gao et al. 2011a) or by incorporating Carbon gradients of light, magnetic elds, chemical concentra-
Nanotubes (CNT) (Dhar et al. 2006). Chemical-based tions, and temperature. The response of bacteria towards
nanoswimmer propulsion attempts are shown chronolog- external stimuli has encouraged many researchers to inves-
ically in Table 1. tigate their motion under various conditions. V. (Vibrio)
4 S. Nain and N.N. Sharma
Table 1. Achievements in the eld of chemical propulsion of nanoswimmers.
Material used to make
Year/author nanoswimmer
Ismagilov et al. (2002) Platinum coated thin plate of
PDMS in H2 O2 .
Mano & Heller (2005) Carbon ber
Kline et al. (2005) Pt/Ni/Au/Ni/Au striped nanorods
in H2 O2 .
Dhar et al. (2006) Pt-Au nanorod
Paxton et al. (2006) Gold rod (2 m), polystyrene (PS)
(1 m) and carboxy sulfate (CS)
PS (1 m) sphere in H2 O2 .
Howse et al. (2007) Pt coated PS bead in H2 O2 .
Pantarotto et al. (2008) Multiwall carbon nanotube
(MW-CNT) in glucose solution
Laocharoensuk et al. Au/Pt nanowire in H2 O2 .
(2008)
Gibbs & Zhao (2009) Pt coated silica microsphere in
H2 O2 .
Mallouk & Sen (2009) Pt-Au nanorod in H2 O2 .
Manesh et al. (2010a) Pt/Ni/AuAg nanowire
Manesh et al. (2010b) Pt-based conical microtubular
engine in H2 O2 .
Sanchez et al. (2010b) Ti/Au microtubular engine
Sanchez et al. (2010a) Ti/Fe/Pt nanomotor in H2 O2 .
Valadares et al. (2010) Silica-platinum sphere
Remarks
- Demonstrated for the rst time the motion of self assembled
polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) micro-object.
- Observed a speed of 12 cm s1 in H2 O2 solution (13%).
-Used the principle of bio-electrochemical to mechanical power
conversion for propulsion of conductive carbon ber.
- Propelled at velocity of 1 cm s1 for 20 s at the wateroxygen
interface, decreasing to 0.1 cm s1 after 1 min and halted
after 3 min.
- Observed directional motion of Pt/Ni/Au/Ni/Au striped
nanorods in the presence of a magnetic eld without altering
the nanorods speed.
- Investigated the motion of a Pt-Au nanorod at the
H2 O2 /decane interface; a change in speed was observed after
mixing sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant.
- Fabricated nanorods of dierent length ratios of Pt (1 m) to
Au (04 m); a maximum speed was observed for a 1:1 ratio
of the Pt-Au nanorod.
- A Pt/Au interdigitated microelectrode worked as a catalytic
micropump to propel micro-objects under an applied electric
eld.
- Speed of Au rod: 11 m s1 , PS sphere: 5 m s1 and CS PS
sphere: 6 m s1 .
- Investigated the motion of unevenly Pt coated microspheres.
- Investigated the motion of multiwall carbon nanotubes by
catalytical conversion of glucose and H2 O2 .
- Speed: 0.20.8 cm s1 .
- Investigated the enhancement in speed of microtubes due to
reinforcement of carbon nanotube in Pt segment and addition
of hydrazine.
- Observed average speed: 5060 m s1 in H2 O2 solution, 94
m s1 due to CNT and increase up to 200 m s1 by adding
hydrazine.
- Investigated the motion of microswimmers due to generation
and detachment of oxygen bubbles at the site of Pt coated
silica microspheres.
- Demonstrated the motion of Pt-Au nanorods due to catalytic
decomposition of hydrogen peroxide solution.
- investigated rst time the concept of writing through
nanomotor.
- Au-Ag end of Pt/Ni/AuAg nanowire coated with horseradish
peroxidase to form polyaniline structure on gold surface.
- Demonstrated the motion of a Pt-based conical tubular engine
in H2 O2 solution, with pick up and transport of magnetic
cargo after integrating the Ni layer in microtubular engine.
- Observed speed approximately 456 m s1 .
- Functionalized the Au layer of Ti/Au microtubular engine
with 3-mercaptopropionic acid to attach enzyme which
catalyze the hydrogen peroxide fuel.
- Observed speed approximately 40 m s1 .
- For the rst time demonstrated the motion of Ti/Fe/Pt
nanomotor after loading more number of beads.
- Observed reduction in speed from 1251 to72 m s1 upon
loading of one microparticle.
- Inspected the motion of a fabricated silica-platinum spherical
motor in hydrogen peroxide solution.
- Fabricated the microsphere with dierent Pt particle diameter
and observed speed approximately 6 m s1 for 448 nm Pt
particle.
(Continued)
 Frontiers in Life Science
Table 1. Continued
Material used to make
Year/author nanoswimmer
Balasubramanian et al. Pt-Au microtubular engine.
(2011)
Loget & Kuhn (2011) Stainless steel and glassy carbon
microbead.
Fattah et al. (2011) Pt-based carbon microtube.
Sanchez et al. (2011) Ti/Cr/Pt catalytic microengine.
Gao et al. (2011a) Polyaniline (PANI)/Pt
microtubular engine in
H2 O2 .
Gao et al. (2011b) PANI/Zn-based microtubular
engine in HCl, H2SO4, H3PO4.
Liu and Sen (2011) Cu-Pt nanorod in dilute bromine
and iodine solution.
Lugli et al. (2012) Not available
Gao et al. (2012) Al-Ga alloy microparticle
Solovev et al. (2012) InGaAs/GaAs/Cr/Pt tubular
nano-motor
Baraban et al. (2013b) Ti/Pt microjet engines and Pt/Ti
hemispherically coated silica
colloidal particle.
Lee et al. (2014) Pt-Au Janus nanoparticle in H2 O2
Wang et al. (2014) Ag and MnO2 micromotor in
H2 O2
alginolyticus mutant strain VIO5 (Nogawa et al. 2010a),
Escherichia coli cell strain YS34/pYS11/pYS13 (Nogawa
et al. 2010b), S. (Serratia) marcescens (Darnton et al.
2004; Behkam & Sitti 2006, 2008), and S. (Salmonella)
5
Remarks
- Demonstrated in vitro detection of circulating tumor cell.
- Observed speed of approximately 85 m s1 in human serum,
diluted with H2 O2 and sodium cholate.
- Investigated the motion of stainless steel and glassy carbon
microbeads as a result of bipolar reaction in H2 SO4 and HCl
under applied electric eld, leading to bubble generation.
- Observed speed: 512 m s1 .
- Demonstrated the propulsion of carbon microtube after
attaching a Pt cluster at one end of the tube which leads to
bubble generation by catalyzing H2 O2 solution.
- Achieved speed of approximately 29.9 2.1 rpm. The
switching of motion from linear to rotational depends on the
exact position of Pt with respect to tubular axis.
- For the rst time, demonstrated the motion of Ti/Cr/Pt
catalytic motors at low concentration (0.255%) of hydrogen
peroxide fuel by heating the solution at 37C.
Speed: 140 m s1 .
- Observed the increase in speed of PANI/Pt microtubular
engine after adding sodium cholate surfactant in hydrogen
peroxide fuel.
- Speed: 3 mm s1 .
- For the rst time demonstrated the motion of PANI/Zn-based
microtubular engine in an extreme acidic environment.
- Achieved speed of approximately 1050 m s1 at pH 0.2.
- Demonstrated the consumption of whole peroxide solution
for the propulsion of ratchet shape Cu-Pt nanobattery.
- Speed: 7 m s1 .
- Observed maximum velocity and eciency at highest fuel
concentration for long rod janus swimmer, among four
dierent types of swimmer such as long rod, short rod,
sphere and disk through simulation.
- For the rst time fabricated a water driven motor and observed
its speed in various media.
- Speed: 3 mm s1
- Demonstrated the powering, corkscrew motion of
InGaAs/GaAs/Cr/Pt tubular nano-motor and loading and
unloading of yeast cell to the targeted location.
- Speed: 180 m s1 .
- Demonstrated the chemotactic behavior of spherical motor
and compared the covered distance with rod shaped motor
inside the micro-uidic channel.
- A longer run was observed for Pt/Ti hemispherically coated
silica colloidal particle with larger opening angle, which
indicates that chemotactic behavior depends on the geometry
of motors.
- For the rst time investigated the rotational and translational
motion simultaneously of catalytically active 30 nm janus
nanoparticle, due to irregular shape of nanoparticle via
self-electrophoresis mechanism.
- Observed increase in average ballistic speed of approximately
0.66 0.04 mm s1 in H2 O2 solution (1.5%).
- Investigated bubbled propulsion mechanism for inorganic,
less toxic, Ag and MnO2 -based micromotor.
- Observed average speed for Ag and MnO2 micromotor as 100
and 50 m s1 respectively at 12% H2 O2 concentration.
typhimurium strain (Cho et al. 2012) have been used
for transporting micro-objects to a target location. The
presence of amino acids inside the human body makes
the VIO5 strain driven micro-object, a potential means of
6 S. Nain and N.N. Sharma
Table 2. Achievements in the eld of induced magnetic propulsion.
Material used to make
Year/author nanoswimmer
Honda et al. (1996) Cu wire attached to SmCo5 magnet
Ishiyama et al. (2001) Spiral (metal blades) shape
neodymium (NdFeB) magnetic
microswimmer
Dreyfus et al. (2005) Streptavidin coated super-
paramagnetic colloidal particle
attached to DNA.
Mathieu et al. (2006) Ferromagnetic core of carbon steel
Yesin et al. (2006) Nickel-based magnetic microrobot.
Chanu et al. (2007) Poly(acrylic acid-coisoocylacrylate)
coated magneto-elastic Fe-Ni-
based microrobot.
Martel et al. (2007) Ferromagnetic bead of chrome steel.
Bell et al. (2007) Nanocoil with Ni plate
Guo et al. (2008) Styrol and exible ns (polyimide
lm) attached to the permanent
magnet to form microrobot.
Vollmers et al. (2008) Nickel-based microrobot
Tierno et al. (2008) Streptavidin coated PS paramagnetic
colloids
Zhang et al. (2009b) InGaAs/GaAs/Cr articial bacteria
agella
Zhang et al. (2009c) InGaAs/GaAs/Cr
Remarks
- Investigated the motion of spiral shaped microrobot in water
and silicon oil and validated experimental results with
Lighthills theory.
- Spiral shape microrobot motion was controlled remotely by
applying an external magnetic eld.
- Observed the motion of spiral shape magnetic microswimmer
in meat sample.
- Speed: 1 mm s1 .
- Used linear chain of super-paramagnetic colloidal particle to
move RBC (Red blood cell) attached through DNA in silicon
oil.
- Articial agella align and rotate in the presence of an applied
external magnetic eld.
- Conducted experiment in polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)
tube lled with water to simulate peripheral arteries and
observed the upward and downward motion of ferromagnetic
core of carbon steel.
- Ferromagnetic core of carbon steel moved under externally
applied gradient magnetic eld.
- Proposed the idea of steering an assembled magnetic microrobot
inside eye, ear and in cardiovascular environment.
- Performed viscosity drag experiment by putting microrobot in
silicon oil, having dynamic viscosity 100, 350, 1000 cP under
applied magnetic eld.
- Demonstrated the fabrication of MRI guided motion of
Fe-Ni-based biosensor to sense pH inside human body.
- The change in polymer mass or size has been observed due to
swelling of polymer as a result of change in pH which leads to
change in resonant frequency, detected by MRI RF coil.
- For the rst time navigated the ferromagnetic bead of chrome
inside the carotid artery of living swine.
- Speed: 8.4311.1 cm s1 .
- For the rst time emulated the helical propulsion of bacterial
agella and exhibited two-fold higher velocity in water than
paran oil.
- Propelled the nanocoil by generation of electro-magnetic eld
through set of four ferrite cores/Helmholtz coil, in water and
paran oil.
- Measured the propulsive force of microrobot through laser
displacement, copper beam and electrical balance.
- The horizontal and vertical motion of a microrobot has been
demonstrated by applying an alternating magnetic eld from
080 Hz for horizontal and 030 Hz for vertical motion.
- This whole device was four to six times the width of human
hair. When a uniform magnetic eld of around 2 mT was
applied by using two orthogonal helmholtz coil, torque was
generated due to asymmetrical shape.
- Observed increase in speed for long chain of paramagnetic
colloidal linked by DNA and for larger particles, in water
under an applied magnetic eld.
- Speed for doublet paramagnetic colloidal: 3 m s1 .
- Fabricated and observed the actuation of InGaAs/GaAs/Cr
articial bacteria agella.
- Achieved speed of approximately 1.2 m s1 by applying a
magnetic eld of 2 mT.
- Observed swarm-like behavior of three articial bacterial
agella together.
(Continued)
 Frontiers in Life Science
Table 2. Continued
Material used to make
Year/author nanoswimmer
Pawashe et al. (2009) Neodymium (NdFeB) magnetic
micro-robot
Solovev et al. (2010) Ti/Fe/Pt microtube
Kagan et al. (2010) Au/Ni/Au/Pt-CNT nanomotor
Hou et al. (2010) Stainless steel
Sakar et al. (2010) SU-8 photoresist consisting of
Fe3 O4 nanoparticle
Fountain et al. (2010) Spring and neodymium (NdFeB)
magnet
Martel (2010)
Tabatabaei et al. (2010, Magnetic nanoparticle embedded in
2011) N-isopropyl-acrylamide (PNIPA).
Gao et al. (2010) Au/Ag/Ni nanowire
Zhang et al. (2010) Ni nanowire
Fischer and Ghosh (2011) Cobalt coated glass nanopropeller.
Pak et al. (2011) Ag nanowire with Ni head
Zhou et al. (2011) Neodymium (NdFeB) magnet
Karan and Majumder Au nanoparticle
(2011)
Singleton et al. (2011) Steel springs
Vonthron et al. (2011) Ferromagnetic chrome steel bead
Palagi et al. (2011) Spherical alginate hydrogel
7
Remarks
- Investigated the motion of electrostatically attached NdFeB
magnetic micro-robot.
- Translation speed: 8 mm s1 .
- Investigated the loading and transport of approximately 60 PS
beads and observed decrease in speed due to attachment of
more micro-particles.
- Demonstrated the directional motion of Ti/Fe/Pt microtube.
- Showed pick up and transport of doxorubicin loaded poly- d,L-
lactic- c glycolic acid (PLGA) particle by Au/Ni/Au/Pt-CNT
nanomotor.
- Speed of nanomotor is 9 m s1 when loaded with PLGA
microparticle and 16 m s1 after releasing the load.
- Demonstrated the forward and backward rolling motion of
magnetic microrobot.
- Rotational speed: 2 rps and translational speed: 1.4 mm s1 .
- Manipulated T. pyriformis cell by U-shaped micro-transporter
made up of magnetite nanoparticle mixed in SU-8 photoresist.
- Average speed: 350 m s1 .
- Observed 1 DOF (Degree of freedom) motion in water by
applying non-uniform magnetic eld.
- Proposed three designs of microswimmers.
- The N-isopropyl-acrylamide (PNIPA)-magnetic nanoparticle
microrobot shrunk in response to applied AC magnetic eld
and tracked by clinical MRI.
- Velocity: 17.5 mm s1 .
- For the rst time demonstrated the propulsion of readily
prepared exible Au/Ag/Ni nanowire under external magnetic
eld. The bending of the Ag joint breaks the system symmetry
to induce the movement at two segments with dierent
amplitude and phase dierence.
- Speed increase from 1.5 to 6 m s1 upon increasing the
frequency from 5 to 15 Hz
- Demonstrated the pick up and transport of PS beads by using
Ni nanowire.
- Speed for 4 m long nanowire is 17 m s1 and for 12 m long
nanowire is 37 m s1 .
- Demonstrated the fabrication and motion of glass nanopropeller
in water.
- Speed: 40 m s1 .
- Observed no inuence of ions on the propulsion speed of Ag
nanowire having Ni head.
- Speed: 21 m s1 .
- Demonstrated the motion of endoscopic capsule (NdBFe
magnet) inside vinyl tube lled with water/silicon tube
in order to imitate the gastrointestinal tract under applied
alternating electromagnetic eld in water and silicon oil.
- The average velocity is proportional to input current.
- Mentioned usage in treatment of various cancer.
- Synthesized citrate capped Au nanoparticles (NPs) of diameter
10.8 and 15.5 nm, exhibited diamagnetic responses at
temperature of 5 and 300 K.
- Proposed multiagella system and fabricated agella of four
dierent designs.
- Demonstrated the deection of catheter having ferromagnetic
chrome steel bead at gradient magnetic eld.
- Reinforced iron oxide nanoparticle in spherical hydrogel
microrobot and observed its motion in water by applying a
uniform 8 mT magnetic eld.
- Speed: 1 mm s1 .
(Continued)
8 S. Nain and N.N. Sharma

Table 2. Continued

Material used to make

Year/author nanoswimmer Remarks

Mair et al. (2011) Au nanorod, covered with Ni-Pd.
Tottori et al. (2011) Nickel
Benkoski et al. (2011) A mixture of polyethylene
coated magnetite Fe3O4
superparamagnetic nanoparticle
and ferromagnetic PS-cobalt
nanoparticles in agella like
structure (head + tail fashion).
Campuzano et al. (2012) PANI/Pt microtubular engine coated
with Ni/Au bilayer.
Tottori et al. (2012)
Belharet et al. (2012) Neodymium magnetic microrobot
Tabatabaei et al. (2012) Magnetic nanoparticle enclosed in
microcarrier.
Peyer et al. (2012) InGaAs/GaAs/Cr as tail and
Cr/Ni/Au trilayer as head.
Ghosh et al. (2012) Cobalt coated nanopropeller.
Temel et al. (2012, 2013) Nd2 Fe14 B permanent magnet as a
head and copper helical wire as a
tail
Peyer et al. (2013a, Not available
2013b)
Ye et al. (2014) Neodymium (NdFeB) and
polyurethane as a cylindrical body
of microswimmer with attached
agella made up of PDMS
- Investigated the manipulation of human bronchial epithelial
cells.
- Demonstrated the capturing of PS bead by Ni-Pd coated janus
Au nanorod and achieved speed of approximately 24 m s1 .
- Observed the behavior of bar shaped Ni head and cross shaped
Ni head microrobot in silicon oil by applying a rotating
magnetic eld.
- For the rst time fabricated articial bacterial agella from
this material and propelled it in organic media by a pair of
orthogonal static and sinusoidal magnetic elds.
- Speed: 1 m s1 .
- Observed 50% decrease in speed after functionalization.
- Speed: 350 m s1 .
- Fabricated eight dierent design of vertical and horizontal
helical microrobots, transported PS bead in de-ionized water.
- Navigated the neodymium magnetic microrobot in Y-shaped
microuidic channel under static and pulsatile ow condition
of varying viscous ow of glycerol.
- For the rst time investigated in vivo disruption of blood brain
barrier by therapeutic agent in living mice.
- Examined the swimming behavior of ABF at dierent
concentrations of methyl cellulose in water.
- For the rst time investigated the bistable behavior of helical
nanostructure.
- Observed the motion of helical magnetic microrobots in T- and
Y-shaped microchannels lled with glycerol and veried the
results with CFD simulation.
- Three electromagnetic coils used to provide the propulsive
force and directional control.
- Discussed magnetic actuation of helical micromachine.
- Investigated increase in speed by attaching up to four exible
agella to the magnetic cylindrical body immersed in silicon
oil having viscosity 5 and 350cSt.

propulsion of nanoswimmer because bacterial strain moves
towards the attractant (amino acid) and away from the
repellent (amino acid) and may also control the direction
and speed of agella according to the presence of environ-
mental stimuli such as chemical gradient (Nogawa et al.
2010a). Behkam and Sitti (2008) explored the speed of pat-
terned microbeads and obtained values of approximately
28.2 m s1 . The propulsive force of bacteria has great
potential for transporting drug-loaded micro-objects for
targeted drug delivery inside the human body. However,
there are some drawbacks to bacterial driven nanorobots.
First, the propulsive force produced by bacteria has not
been utilized fully because bacterial agella attached to
polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate and polystyrene
PS) beads are not able to swim freely. Second, the motion
and orientation of these bacteria are not controllable. Third,
as the size of the micro-objects increases, bacteria are
not able to propel eciently (Sowa et al. 2003). Bacterial
actuation methods are listed chronologically in Table 3.
In addition to chemotaxis, magnetotactic manipulation
of micro-objects has been observed by utilizing the motion
of dierent types of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) under
medical MRI. Three bacteria (Martel 2006a) have been
considered for propulsion and manipulation under applied
magnetic elds: MV-4, the smallest MTB, Magnetococ-
cus sp. (MC-1), the fastest MTB, and Magnetospirillum
gryphiswaldense. The latter has bundle of agella on both
ends while MV-4 and MC-1 have a bundle of agella
on one end. The best results were reported with a longer
chain of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense. Felfoul et al.
(2011) stated that bacteria are responsive to external stim-
uli including chemicals, light, temperature and amount of
oxygen, and these properties of bacteria are dicult to
control and manipulate inside the human body. So, they
 Frontiers in Life Science
Table 3. Prominent work in bacterial driven micro-objects in the presence of chemicals.
Material used to make bacterial
Year/author driven micro-object
Sowa et al. (2003) Poly-L-lysine (PLL) coated
microbead
Darnton et al. (2004) Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip
or PS bead
Behkam and Sitti (2006) Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip
or PS bead
Behkam and Sitti (2008) PS bead
Nogawa et al. (2010a) Not available
Nogawa et al. (2010b) Not available
Nogawa et al. (2011) PS bead
Al-Fandi et al. (2011) Not available
Cho et al. (2012) PLL coated polyethylene glycol
(PEG) microbead
Park, Bae, et al. (2013a) PS microbead exposed to oxygen
plasma and coated with bovine
serum albumin.
Park et al. (2013b) PS microbead
Park et al. (2014) Bovine serum albumin coated PS
bead
simulated and experimented in vitro with MTB (MC-1)
to reach deep inside the tumor using magnetic guidance;
however, swimming bacteria near the boundaries did not
follow the direction of the magnetic eld. Martel (2011)
stated that use of chemicals and phototaxis may not be bet-
ter for blood vessels and going deep inside the human body.
9
Remarks
- Demonstrated a decrease in speed of Vibrio alginolyticus driven
PLL coated microbead as the size of bead increases in the same
concentration of NaCl.
- Rotational speed: 300 Hz.
- The mean square displacement of bacterial driven microbead was
150 times higher than observed with diusion of PS microbead.
- Demonstrated automobile PDMS chip and PS bead after
attaching to S. marcescens bacteria.
- Speed of PS bead after attaching single bacteria was 4.7 m s1 .
- Proposed and developed a hybrid nanoswimmer, exhibited
ecient propulsion in the presence of chemical nutrient
medium.
- Compared the diusion length of PS bead with bacterial
driven PS bead; found the diusion length of the PS bead
approximately 79 times less than bacterial driven and achieved
velocity of approximately 17 m s1 .
- Showed two-fold enhanced speed for patterned PS bead. Speed
of patterned bead is proportional to the number of bacteria
attached to beads surface, which becomes slower as it reached
the threshold values.
- Speed: 28.2 m s1 .
- Demonstrated V. alginolyticus mutant strain VIO5 driven motion
of micro-objects due to concentration gradient of L-serine
attractant.
-Manipulated the speed of Na driven bacterial agella in a single
E. coli cell using dual pipette system.
- The rotational speed of the bacterial strain was controlled by
controlling the spouting velocity of Na solution containing
pipettes multiplied by applied DC voltage.
- Observed increase in speed after attaching two bacteria on PS
bead.
- The average moving velocities of the bacterium driven microbead
and the two-bacteria driven microbead were calculated as 4.7
m s1 and 10.6 m s1 respectively.
- Investigated the chemo taxis movement of E. coli bacteria.
- Observed the enhancement in average velocity for S. marcescens
bacteria on selectively patterned PEG microbeads over
completely coated or uncoated microbeads.
- The selectively coated PEG microbeads showed 12.33 and
7.40 times enhanced average velocity than PLL uncoated and
completely coated PEG microbeads.
- The selective attachment of S. typhimurium bacteria depends on
the agarose gel concentration.
- Demonstrated 45 times enhanced velocity compare to
completely uncoated microbeads.
- Demonstrated the motion of Salmonella typhimurium-actuated
microrobot based on streptavidin/biotin-based linkage in tumor
bearing mice.
- Demonstrated the chemotactic behavior of Salmonella
typhimurium in the presence of L-aspartic acid (chemo-
attractant) and NiSO4 (chemo-repellent).
The eect of chemicals and oxygen level on the movement
of MTB has been decreased by applying magnetic elds
slightly higher than the earths magnetic eld, i.e. around
0.5 gauss, resulting in more controllable movement of the
MTBs. Ferromagnetic nanoparticles (Cheang et al. 2010)
attached to bacteria for transportation of micro-objects
10 S. Nain and N.N. Sharma

Table 4. Achievements in the eld of magneto-tactic bacteria (MTB) driven motion of micro-objects.

Year/author Type of magneto-tactic bacteria Remarks

Martel (2006b) Not available - Proposed the concept of steering of

Martel (2006a)
Felfoul et al. (2008)
Martel et al. (2008)
Martel and Mohammadi (2008)
Cheang et al. (2010)
Felfoul et al. (2011)
Martel (2011)
Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense bacteria
Magnetotactic bacteria + permanent
magnet
Magnetococcus sp. (MC-1) cell + clinical
MRI
Magnetococcus sp. (MC-1) cell
Magnetococcus sp. (MC-1) MTB +
electromagnets
Salmonella typhimurium bacterium +
external rotating magnetic eld
Magnetococcus sp. MC-1 MTB
Magnetococcus sp. (MC-1) cell + clinical
MRI
ferromagnetic particles rather than propulsion.
- For the rst time proposed living magneto-tactic
bacteria (MTB) driven micro-object.
- Average speeds of 3, 10 and 100 m diameter
microbeads are 16.3, 4.9 and 0.49 m s1 .
- Conducted in vitro experiments by using
Magnetococcus sp. (MC-1) cell as a
microcarrier.
- Utilized the high average and peak speed (200
m s1 and 300 m s1 ) of Magnetococcus sp.
(MC-1) cell in water and blood compare to
other synthesized articial bacterial agella.
- Observed that MTB are stopped at around
90 gauss and seem to resume their motion
again after reducing the amplitude of magnetic
gradient.
- Observed high speed for MC-1 MTB in water at
room temperature compared to other agellated
bacteria.
- Demonstrated the transportation of PS
microbeads connected to magnetic nanoparticle
(MNP) via agella of Salmonella typhimurium
bacterium.
- Simulated and experimented to reach deep
inside the tumor cell using Magnetococcus sp.
MC-1 MTB (speed: 300 m s1 ).
- Conducted experiments in human blood at
37C and observed a decrease in speed with
time of magneto-tactic bacteria (MTB), but it
stays inside for a longer time approximately
40 min more than the articial ferromagnetic
nanoswimmers of similar size inside the human
body.
- Demonstrated the injection of magneto-
tactic bacteria (MTB) microcarrier in the
carotid artery of living swine. To study the
interventional procedure for tumor targeting in
living mice.

have been used because they glow with a dierent color
when illuminated with ultraviolet (UV) light, which helps
to track the path of nanoswimmers when traveling inside
the body. Pick up and transportation of micro-objects in
vivo and in vitro by MTB (Felfoul et al. 2008; Martel 2011)
have been observed. The achievements in the eld of MTB
driven motion of micro-objects are listed chronologically
in Table 4.
Other methods of propulsion
Other actuation methods that have been tested include
myosin-actin, kinesin-tubular protein molecular motors
(Bakewell & Nicolau 2007), self-acoustophoresis (Weibel
et al. 2005; Steager et al. 2007, 2011; Wang et al.
2007, 2012; Lentacker et al. 2009; Couture et al.
2011; Kagan et al. 2012; Garcia-Gradilla et al. 2013),
self-diusiophoresis, thermo-phoresis (Hu et al. 2011),
electro-osmotic propulsion (Calvo-Marzal et al. 2010;
Hwang & Rgnier 2012), surface tension (Song & Sitti
2007) and laser light (Sul et al. 2006; Hu et al. 2011; Bzs
et al. 2012). Drug release, incorporated inside thermo-
responsive hydrogels and transport of micro-object by S.
marcescens bacteria and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CR)
(Weibel et al. 2005), has been demonstrated when exposed
to UV light. An ultrasonic wave produces a radiation force
which helps in propulsion of micro-objects. Piezoelec-
tric materials, e.g. lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate
(PMN-PT) (Ksa et al. 2007; Choi et al. 2010; Xu et al.
2010) have been used to generate power for propulsion of
nanoswimmers. Kagan et al. (2012) obtained an average
speed of microbullets of approximately 6 m s1 . Dierent
models (Cavalcanti et al. 2006, 2007b, 2008a, 2008c; Cav-
alcanti 2008b; Floyd & Sitti 2008; Adtani et al. 2009; Hogg
& Freitas Jr 2010; Ghanbari & Bahrami 2011; Paul & Dipti
2012) have been proposed to generate power for propulsion

Table 5. List of other methods of propulsion.
Year/author
Edd et al. (2003)
Weibel et al. (2005)
Sul et al. (2006)
Donald et al. (2006)
Wang and Song (2006)
Cavalcanti et al. (2006)
Wang et al. (2007)
Song Sitti (2007)
Cavalcanti et al. (2007a)
Steager et al. (2007)
Floyd and Sitti (2008)
Adtani et al. (2009)
Yang et al. (2009)
Xu et al. (2010)
Hogg and Freitas Jr (2010)
Calvo-Marzal et al. (2010)
Frontiers in Life Science 11
Material used to make nanoswimmer Remarks
Not available - Proposed the design and did simulation of microrobot
made of multiwall carbon nanotube (MW-CNT).
PS bead - Demonstrated the photosynthetic algae Chlamy-
domonas reinhardtii (CR) driven motion of
micro-object in the presence of ultraviolet radiation
(365 nm).
- Microbead transported at the rate of 100200 m s1 .
Thin metal lm bimorph - Demonstrated the motion of three-leg free-standing
microdevice using laser light.
- Observed speed approximately 100 m s1 .
Chrome-based MEMS microrobot - Investigated the forward and backward motion of
electrostatic MEMS microrobot.
- Speed: 200 m s1 .
ZnO nanowire - Deected the zinc oxide nanowire by atomic force
microscopy to use the principle of mechanical to
electrical power conversion.
Not available - Did simulation using CAD and CFD to treat stenosed
arteries.
ZnO nanowire - Utilized the piezoelectric semiconducting coupling
process for powering of nanodevice.
- Ultrasonic wave of 41 KHz deformed the ZnO
nanowire.
Three piezoelectric unimorph actuator - Demonstrated the motion of T shape microrobot on
supported on leg made of Teon. water due to surface tension phenomena.
- Maximum forward speed and rotational speed were 3
cm s1 and 0.5 rad s1 .
Not available - Did 3D simulation using 50 nanorobots to reach
target area such as cancer through vessels of dierent
diameters.
SU-8 microstructure - Observed tumbling motion of triangular microstructure
on agar plate having mob of Serratia marcescens
bacteria in microchannel under applied UV radiation.
- Translational and rotational average velocity were 9.15
m s1 and 1.05 rad s1 before exposure of UV and
motion stop for 5 s and resumes within 8 s.
Not available - Did simulation to determine power required to lift the
robot.
Not available - Proposed a model to determine thrust force generated
by zipping and unzipping of dsDNA.
ZnO nanowire - Demonstrated 15100 times more velocity for
horizontally fabricated array of ZnO nanowire than
vertically arranged nanowires.
Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanowire - For the rst time fabricated a single crystal lead
zirconate titanate (PZT) nanowire array through
chemical epitaxial growth technique for powering of
an in vivo biosensor.
- Demonstrated the powering of a laser diode due to
conversion of mechanical energy generated from
deformation of single crystal lead zirconate titanate
(PZT) nanowire array into electrical energy.
Not available - Did numerical modeling to approximate the power
available by oxidizing glucose present in blood.
Polypyrrolecadmium (PPyCd) and - Investigated the motion of the PPyCd and CdSe
CdSeAuCdSe schottky barrier AuCdSe schottky barrier diode nanowire due to
diode. electro-osmotic ow under the inuence of a spatially
uniform AC electrical eld.
- Speed: 17.2 m s1 .
(Continued)
12 S. Nain and N.N. Sharma

Table 5. Continued

Year/author Material used to make nanoswimmer Remarks

Choi et al. (2010)
Ghanbari and Bahrami (2011)
Hu et al. (2011)
Couture et al. (2011)
Hu and Sun (2011)
Harsha and Rao (2012)
Bzs et al. (2012)
Hwang and Rgnier (2012)
Wang et al. (2012)
Paul and Dipti (2012)
Kagan et al. (2012)
Garcia-Gradilla et al. (2013)
Lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate - Investigated the conversion of mechanical stress
(PMN-PT) generated due to contraction force from cardiomyoctes
on lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT)
membrane.
- Observed voltage: 1.44 4.16 mVpp
Not available - Proposed ParaLiker swimming microrobot.
Not available - Observed the motion of thermally generated bubble
microrobot.
- Actuated the bubble of phosphate buer saline by
exposing optically absorbing substrate to 980 nm
laser light by converting light into heat, resulting in a
thermal gradient which was sucient to move bubble
microrobots at velocity of 4 mm s1 .
Per uorocarbon emulsion droplet - Demonstrated delivery of payload marker by exposing
per uorocarbon
emulsion droplet by ultrasonic pulses.
Not available - Manipulated single yeast cell using optical tweezers as
micro robot.
Not available - Proposed a nanorobot design to treat acquired immuno
deciency syndrome (AIDS) by sending anti-HIV
agents using nanorobots; this helps to convert infected
WBC (White blood cell) back to normal inside the
human body.
Wedge shaped Au coated SU-8 - Investigated 10 times more velocity in the presence of
microstructure. laser light.
- Velocity: 10 m s1 .
InGaAs/GaAs bilayer - Demonstrated the powering of helical nanobelts by
generation of electric eld due to electro-osmotic
ow in isopropyl alcohol medium. - Helical nanobelt
moves at a velocity of approximately 1785 m s1 ,
i.e. 24 body lengths per second.
Au-Ru or Au-Pt microrod in water. - Investigated the self-acoustophoresis-based axial
motion of metallic rods.
- Speed: 200 m s1
Not available - Simulated the intervention and interaction of
nanorobots.
Peruorocarbon droplet -Investigated the motion of ultrasonic trigger micro-
bullets (MB) due to evaporation of peruorocarbon
droplet attached to MB.
- Average speed: 6 m s1 .
Au-Ni-Au nanowire - For the rst time demonstrated the coupling of
bioreceptor and drug releasing pH responsive
polypyrrole-PS sulfonate (PPy-PSS) segment on
Au-Ni-Au nanomotor which has been powered
ultrasonically.
- Investigated the motion of nanomotor in water,
seawater, serum and saliva. Decrease in speed has
been observed for saliva because of high viscosity.

of nanoswimmers in human body. Optical tweezers (Hu &
Sun 2011) and atomic force microscopes (Wang & Song
2006) have been used as microrobots for manipulation.
Some drawbacks (Baker et al. 2001) are associated with in
vivo ultrasonic propulsion, e.g. the heating eect, mechan-
ical eect, shrinking and expanding of micro-bubbles
present in the lungs and genetic defects after prolonged
exposure. A low frequency (20100 kHz) (Ahmadi et al.
2012) ultrasonic wave has been used in various biomedical
applications including eye surgery, dentistry, and breaking
kidney stones, to image internal organs. The propulsion
of silica colloidal particles coated with magnetic Pt (2
nm)/Py(100 nm)/Pt(2 nm) stack (Baraban et al. 2013a) has
been observed due to a temperature gradient generated
by applying an AC magnetic eld around the magnetic
 Frontiers in Life Science
cap in water. Electro wetting on dielectric (EWOD) tech-
nology (Mita et al. 2009) has been used to propel the
smallest MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems)-based
device with no moving parts in water with a speed of
8 mm s1 . The back and forth motion of the device has
been observed due to movement of trapped bubbles on the
surface of the silicon swimming robot when voltage was
applied to the electrode. A piezoelectric resonant motor
coupled with axial and torsional displacement has been
designed by Watson et al. (2009), with a helically cut
stator 70% smaller in diameter (250 m) than previous sta-
tors. They observed an angular velocity of approximately
135 rad s1 by agellar propulsion. This group also mod-
eled and designed a piezoelectric ultrasonic motor with
a stator of diameter 241 m which helps to drive an in
vivo microrobot for biomedical applications (Watson et al.
2010). These nanoswimmer propulsion methods are listed
chronologically in Table 5.
Conclusion
In this paper, we have reviewed chemical, mag-
netic, bacteria-based and other modes of propulsion for
nanoswimmers reported in the published literature. Recent
advancements in the eld of nanotechnology have made
possible the fabrication of nanoswimmers of various
shapes and sizes, which propel themselves in dierent
media to accomplish targeted jobs in biomedical applica-
tions, e.g. minimal invasive surgery, destruction of kidney
stones, endoscopy, and cancer detection. Nanoswimmers
inside the human body come into contact with dierent
parts of the body, e.g. vessels, capillaries and the aorta,
which have dierent dimensions; therefore nanoswim-
mers of various sizes have been designed. The shape
of the nanoswimmer is also one a major considera-
tion. Nanoswimmers should be exible and biocompatible
(Majumdar et al. 2013) otherwise they will produce an
adverse eect on the human body or may be rejected
as a foreign body. The material should not produce any
toxic eects, degenerate inside the body, or lose function-
ality when it comes into contact with dierent media at
dierent locations. For biomedical application, articial
nanoswimmers have been functionalized with biological
material. Clinical MRI has been used to check the feasibil-
ity of nanoswimmers inside the human body. Chemotaxis,
magnetotaxis, phototaxis and thermo-taxis responses of
bacteria have been utilized for picking up and transporting
cargo to a predened location. This review presents these
technologies chronologically.
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