journal article·2025-11Open access

Anomalous Dynamics of Superparamagnetic Colloidal Microrobots with Tailored Statistics

Alessia Gentili, Rainer Klages, Giorgio Volpe

Small· Volume 21· Issue 47

Abstract

Abstract Living organisms have developed advanced motion strategies for efficient space exploration, serving as inspiration for the movements of microrobots. These real‐life strategies often involve anomalous dynamics displaying random movement patterns that deviate from Brownian motion. Despite their biological inspiration, autonomous stochastic navigation strategies of current microrobots remain much less versatile than those of their living counterparts. Supported by theoretical reasoning, this work demonstrates superparamagnetic colloidal microrobots with fully customizable stochastic dynamics displaying the entire spectrum of anomalous diffusion, from subdiffusion to superdiffusion, across statistically significant spatial and temporal scales (covering at least two decades). By simultaneously tuning microrobots' step‐length distribution and, critically, their velocity autocorrelation function with magnetic fields, fundamental anomalous dynamics are reproduced with tailored properties mimicking Lévy walks and fractional Brownian motion. These findings pave the way for programmable microrobotic systems that replicate optimal stochastic navigation strategies found in nature for applications in medical robotics and environmental remediation.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Micro and Nano Robotics · Characterization and Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles · Molecular Communication and Nanonetworks

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Chemistry University College London 20 Gordon Street London WC1H 0AJ UK

Centre for Complex Systems School of Mathematical Sciences Queen Mary University of London London E1 4NS UK

London Mathematical Laboratory London W6 8RH UK

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