Limiting propulsion of ionic microswimmers

Abstract

Self-propulsion of catalytic Janus swimmers in electrolyte solutions is induced by inhomogeneous ion release from their surface. Here, we consider the experimentally relevant cases of particles which emit only one type of ions (type I) or equal fluxes of cations and anions (type II). In the limit of a thin electrostatic diffuse layer we derive a nonlinear outer solution for the electric field and concentrations of active (i.e. released from the surface) and passive ionic species. We show that for swimmers of type I both the maximum ion flux and propulsion velocity are constrained. This suggests that the propulsion of Janus swimmers can be optimized by tuning the concentration of active ions.