Design principles for transport of vesicles by enclosed active particles

Active particles in the presence of boundaries exhibit non-trivial emergent states, including rectification, accumulation, and steady states with circulating currents. In this work, we seek to leverage these phenomena to identify design principles for optimal transport of flexible compartments that enclose active particles. By performing numerical simulations of simple models of self-propelled particles enclosed in a flexible elastic enclosure, we characterize the transport properties of the compartment as a function of the shape of the active agent and elastic properties of the enclosure. This work sheds light on organization of active stresses that aid transport, while potentially elucidating cellular transport processes and guiding the design of bio-derived and synthetic systems.