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Review
. 2025 Dec 30:e15700.
doi: 10.1002/adma.202515700. Online ahead of print.

Recent Advances in Collective Behaviors of Micro/Nanomotor Swarms

Siwen Sun  1 , Bingbing Sun  1 , Alexander B Cook  1 , Tania Patiño Padial  1 , Jan C M van Hest  1
Affiliations
Review

Recent Advances in Collective Behaviors of Micro/Nanomotor Swarms

Siwen Sun et al. Adv Mater. .

Abstract

Collective motion, exemplified by swarming insects, flocking birds, and bacterial colonies, emerges from the synchronized actions and velocity adjustments of individual units. Inspired by these natural phenomena, researchers have sought to replicate and harness collective behavior in swarms of self-propelled micro/nanomotors. This endeavor is of great importance for the development of multicomponent adaptive systems. Comprising numerous interacting elements, collective swarms exhibit emergent behaviors that capitalize on multi-motor cooperation, enabling highly efficient, flexible, and robust group performance. Understanding and engineering these behaviors are essential for translating them into practical applications. This review examines the driving forces underlying collective motion, outlines various modes of swarm formation across different dimensions, and highlights representative applications. By linking driving forces, system dimensionality, and functional implementation, it provides a comprehensive perspective on this field.

Keywords: collective behavior; driving forces; functional applications; multi‐dimensional collective behavior; swarm manipulation.

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