Viscophoretic particle transport

Viscosity is a fundamental property of liquids. It determines transport and diffusion of particles in solution. Nonetheless, it is an open question how a gradient of viscosity - causing a gradient in diffusivity - can lead to viscophoretic transport, i.e., directed transport of particles and molecul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2022-12
Main Authors: Khandan, Vahid, Boerkamp, Vincent, Jabermoradi, Abbas, Fontana, Mattia, Hohlbein, Johannes, Verpoorte, Elisabeth, Chiechi, Ryan C, Mathwig, Klaus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drift
Microfluidic devices
Nanoparticles
Viscosity
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Viscosity is a fundamental property of liquids. It determines transport and diffusion of particles in solution. Nonetheless, it is an open question how a gradient of viscosity - causing a gradient in diffusivity - can lead to viscophoretic transport, i.e., directed transport of particles and molecules in solution. Here, we determine viscophoretic drift experimentally. We generate steep, stable viscosity gradients in a microfluidic device and image transport of suspended nanoparticles in these gradients using high-resolution microscopy. We observe high viscophoretic drift velocities which significantly exceed theoretical predictions. In addition, we demonstrate a new method for trapping and concentrating particles by using the interplay of viscophoresis and diffusiophoresis. We believe that a quantification of viscophoresis will advance the understanding and application of transport processes of gradients of viscosity occurring in very diverse fields such as cell biology, chromatography, and membrane technology.
ISSN:2331-8422