Organisms often swim through fluids that are spatially inhomogeneous. If the fluids are polymeric, gradients in polymer concentration may lead to gradients in both fluid viscosity and elasticity. In this Letter, we present theoretical results for the dynamics of active particles, biological or otherwise, swimming through spatially inhomogeneous viscoelastic fluids. We model the active particles using the squirmer model, and show that spatial variations in fluid relaxation time lead to a mechanism for reorientation and taxis in viscoelastic fluids, which we refer to as a form of durotaxis in fluids.

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• Biological fluid dynamics
• Cellular organization, physiology & dynamics
• Microswimmers
• Complex fluids
• Living matter & active matter