Title: Geometric tuning of self-propulsion for Janus catalytic particles,
Abstract: Catalytic swimmers have attracted much attention as alternatives to
biological systems for examining collective microscopic dynamics and the
response to physico-chemical signals. Yet, understanding and predicting even
the most fundamental characteristics of their individual propulsion still
raises important challenges. While chemical asymmetry is widely recognized as
the cornerstone of catalytic propulsion, different experimental studies have
reported that particles with identical chemical properties may propel in
opposite directions. Here, we show that, beyond its chemical properties, the
detailed shape of a catalytic swimmer plays an essential role in determining
its direction of motion, demonstrating the compatibility of the classical
theoretical framework with experimental observations.