The aim of this project is the design and synthesis of chemical swarm robots (“chobots”), which we envisage as internally structured particulate entities in the 10s-100s μm size range that can move in their environment, selectively exchange molecules with their surrounding in response to a local change in temperature or concentration, chemically process those molecules and either accumulate or release the product. Such chemically active autonomous entities can be viewed as very simple artificial single-cellular organisms.
In the course of the project, the following topics will be explored in detail:
(i) the synthesis of suitable shells for chemically active swarm robots, both soft (with a flexible membrane) and hard (porous solid shells);
(ii) the mechanisms of molecular transport into and out of such shells and means of its active control;
(iii) chemical reaction kinetics in spatially complex compartmental structures within the shells;
(iv) collective behaviour of chemical swarm robots and their response to external stimuli.
Up to 5 fully funded PhD studentships are available. The project will take place in a newly established Chemical Robotics Laboratory at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague.
For further details please see http://www.vscht.cz/chobotix
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