IISER MOHALI

In situ enzymatic control of colloidal phoresis and catalysis through hydrolysis of ATP

Nature Communications, volume 15, Article number: 3603 (2024)

Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47912-2

• Diffusiophoretic drift of cationic micron-sized bead (CMB) in gradient of nucleotides measure via microfluidic experiments:

• Schematic of the complex chemo-mechanical system depicted below:

Summary: The design of synthetic systems that can sense chemical gradients and respond with directional motility and chemical activity is of interest. Here we realize and control such behaviours in a synthetic system by tailoring multivalent interactions of adenosine nucleotides and catalytic microbead. This can find applications - in programming the delivery of colloids for chemical processes (e.g. catalysis or drug release) as a function of space and time by switching on or off phoretic activity and will enable precise control of particle transport in biological and other complex systems with reaction-diffusion processes.