Photopyroelectric tweezer for versatile manipulation

 

Date: 11^th November, 2024 (Monday)

Time: 4 - 5 pm (HKT)

Venue: Lecture Theatre P4, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building

Prof. Xuemin DU

 

Xuemin Du is a full professor at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), where he is also the Director of Center for Intelligent Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD). His research interests cover mainly intelligent polymers, bio-adaptive interfaces, and smart wearable and implantable devices (e.g., soft sensors & actuators, tissue engineering scaffolds, bioelectronics). He has published high impact articles in Science Advances, Matter, Advanced Materials, Device, ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, National Science Review, etc. He was awarded the National Science Foundation of China’s Excellent Young Scientists in 2020, the RSC Nanoscale Emerging Investigator in 2021, and 2023 Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards. Currently, he is the deputy Editor of Research and Advanced Bionics, and also serves on the editorial boards of numerous esteemed international journals, including The Innovation, National Science Open, and BMEMat.

Optical tweezers and related techniques offer extraordinary opportunities for research and applications in physical, biological, and medical fields. However, certain critical requirements, such as high-intensity laser beams, sophisticated electrode designs, additional electric sources, or low-conductive media, significantly impede their flexibility and adaptability, thus hindering their practical applications. Herein, we introduce innovative photopyroelectric tweezers (PPT) that combine the advantages of light and electric fields by utilizing a new photopyroelectric substrate, enabling diverse manipulation in various working scenarios. First, we reported the rational design and fabrication of these new photopyroelectric materials and devices, which possess efficient and durable photo-induced surface charge-generation capability. Additionally, we established a theoretical model to explain how such PPT manipulates objects. Finally, we demonstrate the high-level flexibility and adaptability of our PPT and extend them to broad applications in manipulating mini-robots, preparing hydrogel beads, assembling cells, and stimulating cells. By overcoming the limitations of conventional tweezers, the PPT bridges the gap between macroscopic and microscopic manipulations, indicating promising potential in robotics, colloidal science, biomedical fields, and beyond.