Dipolar thermocapillary motor and swimmer

We present a theoretical description and an experimental realization of a thermocapillary dipole induced in a Hele-Shaw cell under a steady temperature gradient. We demonstrate experimentally how several dipoles can be superposed in order to create various 2D flow patterns, and how a confined dipole can act as a thermocapillary motor for driving fluids in microfluidic circuits. In addition, we show how the principles behind the thermocapillary dipole can be applied in order to drive thermocapillary swimmers on fluid-liquid interfaces.