  Most available theoretical predictions for the self-diffusiophoretic motion
of colloidal particles are based on the hydrodynamic thin boundary layer
approximation in combination with a solvent body force due to a self-generated
local solute gradient. This gradient is enforced through specifying boundary
conditions, typically without accounting for the thermodynamic cost to maintain
the gradient. Here we present an alternative thermodynamic approach that
exploits a direct link between dynamics and entropy production: the local
detailed balance condition. We study two cases: First, we revisit
self-propulsion in a demixing binary solvent. At variance with a slip velocity,
we find that propulsion is due to forces at the poles that are perpendicular to
the particle surface. Second, for catalytic swimmers driven through liberating
chemical free energy we recover previous expressions. In both cases we argue
that propulsion is due to asymmetric dissipation and not simply due to an
asymmetric concentration of molecular solutes.
