Cooperative chemotaxis of magnesium microswimmers for corrosion spotting

Abstract : Numerous artificial micro-and nanomotors, as well as various swimmers have been inspired by living organisms that are able to move in a coordinated manner. Their cooperation has also gained a lot of attention because the resulting clusters are able to adapt to changes in their environment and to perform complex tasks. However, mimicking such a collective behavior remains a challenge. In the present work, magnesium microparticles are used as chemotactic swimmers with pronounced collective features, allowing the gradual formation of macroscopic agglomerates. The formed clusters act like a single swimmer able to follow pH gradients. This dynamic behavior can be used to spot in a straightforward way localized corrosion events. The autonomous docking of the swimmers to the corrosion site leads to the formation of a local protection layer, thus increasing corrosion resistance and triggering partial self-healing.