{
  "abstract": "The complex interactions underlying collective motion in biological systems give rise to emergent behaviors such as flocking, sorting, and cooperative transport. These dynamics often involve species with different motilities coordinating movement to optimize navigation and survival. Synthetic analogues based on active colloids offer a controlled platform to explore such behaviors, yet most experimental realizations remain limited to monodisperse systems or mixtures of passive and active particles. Here, we investigate dense binary mixtures of active Janus colloids with two different metal caps leading to distinct motilities and independently tunable mutual alignment, actuated by AC electric fields. We demonstrate experimentally and numerically that binary mixtures form highly dynamic polar clusters. Moreover, particles segregate according to their motility, leading to cooperative \"catch-and-run\"-like dynamics in which slow particles are locally advected and pushed by fast polar clusters, producing a transient enhancement of slow-particle motility. Our results reveal how motility contrast and alignment combine to drive self-organization in active mixtures, offering strategies for designing reconfigurable materials with collective functionalities.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Bordeaux, Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientfique, Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, UMR 5031, Pessac F-33600, France.",
    "Laboratory for Soft Materials and Interfaces, This is the unit/division in this affiliation, ETH Zurich, Zurich 8093, Switzerland.",
    "Editorial Office, American Physical Society, Hauppauge, NY 11788.",
    "Computing and Understanding Collective Action Lab, Condensed Matter Physics Department, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona E08028, Spain.",
    "University of Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems, Barcelona E08028, Spain.",
    "Condensed Matter Physics Department, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona E08028, Spain."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Laura Alvarez",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7018-7817"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Elena Sesé-Sansa"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Demian Levis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Ignacio Pagonabarraga",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6187-5025"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lucio Isa",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6731-9620"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3669cy7ej9rvm.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1073/pnas.2609894123",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13663720",
  "id": "3669cy7ej9rvm",
  "issns": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42837455",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3104|Micro and Nano Robotics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7210556963",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13663720?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13663720",
  "pmid": "42837455",
  "published": "2026-10-06",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3669cy7ej9rvm.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:03Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42837455",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42837455"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "openalex:3104|Micro and Nano Robotics",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Cooperation in binary mixtures of active colloids.",
  "title_text": "Cooperation in binary mixtures of active colloids.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:03Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3669cy7ej9rvm",
  "venue": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
  "versions": []
}