Anti-fouling surfaces: Removal of micro-particles by magnetic artificial cilia

Biological cilia are hair-like structures lining many biological surfaces. There are many examples in nature in which oscillating cilia efficiently manipulate particles in their vicinity, e.g. for feeding, antifouling or cell transport. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate that surfaces covered with artificial cilia have the capacity to remove micro-particles from the ciliated area, creating a particle-free area. The artificial cilia used are micro-moulded magnetic artificial cilia (MAC), actuated externally by a homebuilt magnetic setup. The ciliated surface is capable of removing a large size range of particles except for particles which have a diameter that is similar to the cilia pitch. It is also able to remove irregular-shaped sand particles in both water and air. These findings can contribute to the development of novel particle manipulation and self-cleaning/antifouling surfaces, which can find application in, for example, lab-on-a-chip devices and marine antifouling.